


The Dragon Queen's Chosen

by BlackDawnRose



Category: Black Jewels - Anne Bishop, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:39:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3911608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackDawnRose/pseuds/BlackDawnRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry knew he shouldn't have gone out that night but he'd just had to get away. Violence ensues and Harry is hurt, but he's saved from death, by who and why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Drarry and more that are listed in the description as well as others. This is a crossover with the Black Jewels trilogy but it's not important that you read it first. There aren't a lot of characters from it in the story at the beginning, a few more come in later. There is a rape warning in the description but it is only one scene in the first chapter and that's it

The Dragon Queen's Chosen

Prologue

It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. He was Harry Potter for Merlin's sake, Harry freakin Potter! He'd survived an attack from the scariest wizard ever when he was nothing more than an infant, he'd survived making the transition to the Wizarding world and the fame that came with being him, he'd survived everything that had been thrown at him up until this point including growing up in the muggle world with a family who hated him and treated him like their slave. Sadly it was that part that had him in the god awful predicament he was currently facing.

He should never have come back, he should have stayed in the Wizarding world with the Weasleys, but no, he had to be an idiot and return to his muggle family over the holidays and look where it had gotten him. Lying on a cold, hard surface, drugged up to the eyeballs, his clothes being ripped from his body as a gang of muggles prepared to rape him. Seriously, how had he let himself get into this predicament?

He'd been stupid of course. He'd gone out after dark to escape his awful muggle relatives and their constant mistreatment, used magic to fake an ID and get into a pub and proceeded to drink as much alcohol as he could get his hands on –muggle money was so easy to counterfeit-. He'd turned away from his drink for all of a few seconds to talk to a girl who'd been trying all night to get his attention and the conversation had lasted only as long as it took to tell her she wasn't his type before his attention was once more on his drink. Unfortunately it seemed that was all the time it took for someone to slip something into his glass and here he was.

He wasn't entirely sure where he was right at that moment, in an alley probably. He had no idea where his wand was but he was far too out of his head to cast any kind of decent spell even if he had it which put wandless magic out of the question as well –of course he wasn't supposed to use magic outside of school or in front of muggles but right now he didn't give a damn about the rules and if he could he'd probably use a few unforgivable on the bastards-.

He struggled as they pulled at his pants but he couldn't tell if his struggles were being at all effectual. He must have pissed them off somewhat though because a fist was suddenly colliding with his face…and again…and again…and…wow he'd really pissed someone off! Somewhere in the back of his mind he allowed himself to feel some satisfaction at his little victory.

His pants were off now and no matter how much he struggled there were just too many of them. He heard himself screaming and he thrashed out at anything he could, trying to get himself free. Before he knew it he was being picked up and thrown against something hard –a wall maybe- and there was a body pressed up against his back.

No…Merlin no!

"Oh yes, little one, yes, yes, yes!" a rough voice sneered into his ear moments before he felt a thigh pushing between his and forcing his legs open.

Harry felt tears sliding down his face mingling with something else which was wet and warm…probably blood. This wasn't fair! Hadn't he suffered enough already? Hadn't his life been hard enough? What sort of sick, cosmic joke was this?

The monster's fingernails dug into Harry's hips, holding him still and Harry cried out in pain.

"That's right, scream for me!" the monster snarled into his ear. "You're gonna be screaming all the more soon enough!" he punctuated those last words by ramming Harry's face into the wall in front of him.

Harry knew he couldn't escape physically and he tried everything he could think of to do so mentally. He thought of his friends, Hogwarts, all the good times in his life so far…the very few there were. It was all for naught; Harry felt every moment of the pain. He heard every nasty jibe and evil cackle of sick pleasure that escaped his assaulter and Harry hated the bastard! He hated him to the very depth of his soul and he wanted him to die! He wanted him to suffer, to scream; to know what the Cruciatus curse felt like because it had to be at least as bad as this.

Harry sobbed as he thought about all the life he had yet to live, all the things he'd never done, all the people he had yet to meet and all the wrongs he had yet to right. He thought about his greatest regrets, the things he'd always wished for; things like love, happiness a family… loving, gun metal eyes gazing into his own as their owner gently brushed his hair away from his face and leant down to kiss him.

Wait a minute. Where had that thought come from?

He'd barely had a moment to dwell on it before the loud, pain-filled scream of his attacker filled his ears and Harry felt the bastard drop away from behind him. More screams followed, multiple in fact and somewhere in the back of his mind Harry noticed they were getting louder with each pass. As he slumped heavily to the ground he had just enough awareness left to realise that at least part of his wish had been granted and the monster was in fact screaming. Harry may not have been the cause, but he could deal with that.

He lay there listening to the screams dying down around him, wondering who had come to his aid and if they were just saving him to use him for the same purpose themselves. After a few moments he realised he was shivering and curled up as tight as he could, whimpering when pain shot up his back at the movement.

He didn't hear footsteps approaching him, but he suddenly felt his body being covered by something warm before it was lifted into a pair of strong arms. He whimpered in fear but the person holding him quickly shushed him and ran a gentle hand through his hair.

"It's okay, you're safe," a soft voice assured him and he was sure he should recognise it, but he was too out of it to put any kind of name to it. He tried to look up at his saviour, but his vision was blurry and all he could make out were shapes and a few colours. White… and black, there was lots of black…and then there was nothing but darkness.

XXX

End of Prologue.


	2. The Saviour

The Saviour

Voices blurred together with shapes and colours, nothing concrete or solid. He faded in and out of consciousness, sometimes waking up in pain only to have someone shush him and soothe him with gentle hands. At least he was warm and there was no one taking advantage of his weakened state. When at last he awoke properly it was to find himself in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. The walls were made of a shining black stone, the bed was massive, four posted, in black wood, with heavy black and forest green drapes, soft, forest green, silk sheets and a black, silk comforter with a large, green dragon in the centre. The room was by no means small either and Harry could see an expansive walk in wardrobe leading though to a large, black marble bathroom. The air around him smelled of incense and herbs and magic which meant he hadn't been saved by a muggle, or if he had that muggle had magical ties. Aside from that he had absolutely no idea where he was.

He sat up intent on climbing out of bed and going searching for whoever had saved him to thank them. Right at that moment however, a house elf popped into the room with a glass of brightly coloured liquid in her hand.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter, the young master be wishing for Elsie to check that you are awake and give you this to drink," she said holding out the glass.

Harry took the glass and frowned at the liquid for a moment before asking. "What is it?"

"It is a healing draught, sir," the Elsie replied. "Master says it will help dull the pain some, Sir."

"Who is your master, Elsie?" Harry asked.

"Master will be along shortly, Sir, please drink the draught," Elsie replied before bowing formally and vanishing again.

Harry looked down at the liquid once more. It really wasn't a good idea to drink something made by someone he hadn't even met; it could have anything in it. At the same time however, whoever had made it had likely been the person who'd saved him, or they at least worked for that person, and he'd been unconscious in their care for a little while at least. If they had wanted to harm him they'd had plenty of time already.

He took a deep breath and brought the cup to his lips to take a sip. He allowed the liquid to flow over his tongue expecting it to taste awful as most healing brews did…it didn't….in fact it tasted wonderful! Harry pulled the glass away from his mouth and studied the liquid once more. It was bright orange and sparkled as if it were soda, but it didn't have the carbonation one would usually find in soda. He took another experimental sip and swallowed before shrugging to himself and downing the rest of the liquid. If it did kill him at least it did it while still tasting good.

He swallowed the rest of the liquid before looking down into the cup once more, almost disappointed that there wasn't anymore; that had to be a first.

"I see you approve of my healing draught. Don't be disappointed there's plenty more."

Startled by the voice he turned toward the door to find Elsie walking in carrying a tray of food and followed closely by none other than his school rival Draco Malfoy.

Harry was stunned silent and could only stare at Draco in shock as Elsie brought the tray over to Harry and slid it onto his lap. She turned to Draco then waiting for a new command.

"That's plenty thank you, Elsie, you may go," Draco dismissed the elf and she vanished with a pop. Draco closed the bedroom door and moved to the bedside sitting down on the edge beside Harry. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly holding his hand over Harry's chest. Green magic glowed from his fingertips and Harry had to fight not to leap out of the bed and run away even though he recognized it as a healing charm.

"I'm…I'm not sure," he replied honestly turning his attention to his body and what it was feeling. "Sore," he finally replied. "But not as sore as I'd expected.

Draco nodded. "It's a pretty good healing draught, and that's not any sort of brag it's just a fact, Severus creates some wonderful things sometimes," he said before pulling his hand away. "You're very lucky, you're not going to have any permanent, physical damage," he told Harry quietly. "But you're going to need a few days to recover physically. Psychologically…may be another story. How are you feeling that way?" he asked gently.

Harry thought about it. Honestly he didn't really know yet. He'd been drugged, violated and raped, he should be sobbing and hiding from the world but he wasn't and he felt no need to. Maybe it just hadn't sunk in properly yet.

"I don't know," he replied honestly once more. "I don't know how I feel." He looked down at the tray of food sitting on his lap as if it might give him some answers and was suddenly struck by the absurdity of the situation. This was Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, his rival and enemy and yet he was sitting on the bed beside Harry talking gently to him like he really cared. It was like Harry had fallen into the Twilight Zone. "I'm…confused," he admitted after a few moments looking up at Draco once more. "Why did you save me?" he asked. "Why are you looking after me? Why are you being nice to me?"

"Would you honestly expect me to be cruel to you right now?" Draco asked quietly.

"Well, yes actually," Harry replied. "This is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect you to tease me about for the rest of my life. The great Harry Potter brought so low, by a pack of muggles no less, I would expect it to be on the front page of the Prophet as soon as possible."

Draco looked down. "I wouldn't do that," he said softly. "What happened to you isn't something to make jokes about, or boast about to the wizzarding world, Harry. I brought you here instead of taking you to the hospital because I didn't think you'd appreciate having this broadcast over every piece of wizzarding media in our world. Despite what you might think, I'm not a heartless bastard."

"With the way you talk to Ron and Hermione-"

"Weasley and Granger invited it on themselves," Draco snapped cutting him off. "Think back to the first time I ever made fun of them, or you for that matter, was I the one who started it? No, I was not! I offered you friendship and you turned me down."

"You were cruel to Ron," Harry argued.

"Because he was cruel to me first!" Draco retorted. "Or do you think it's okay to tease someone for the name they are given. Also, in case you've forgotten, your precious Weasley was very unkind to Granger for the first few weeks he knew her and what reason did he have for that?"

"And you can talk; the way you speak to Hermione is disgusting!" Harry snarled.

"I'm not pretending to be perfect, Potter, or her friend. And I'll remind you again, since you've once more forgotten; she started on me first by accusing me of buying my way into the Quiddich team. I did not say a negative word to her until that day! Your friends are just as cruel to me as I am to them and so are you, you just tell yourselves that it's in self defence to make you feel better!" Draco snarled.

Harry looked at Draco in shock for several moments, searching his memory for the truth of the Slytherin's words. He was blown away when he realized Draco was right. Ron and Hermione had started on Draco first, admittedly Hermione had been standing up for Ron but still…It was also true that he had been the one to turn Draco down that day and if he were being honest with himself it was because he reminded Harry of Dudley, which really hadn't been fair when he didn't really know the young Malfoy at all.

He looked up at Draco once more and found the Slytherin looking down at his shoes, an unreadable expression on his face. What would have happened if Harry had accepted Draco's friendship at the start of that first year? Would he have ended up in Slytherin? Would he have been able to convince Draco to be friendlier to Ron and the others? Would Harry himself have ended up as a bully? Too many questions and no answers for any of them.

Only one thing was certain, Draco had saved Harry's life, brought him back to Malfoy manor and had been taking care of him since and Harry was being an unforgivable ass to the other boy.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy," he said quietly. "You saved me and I'm being awfully ungrateful about it all. I'm sorry."

"No I am, I shouldn't be yelling at you after what you've been through," Draco replied quietly still not looking up. "You should eat something before it gets cold, I'll send Elsie up to get the tray when you're done," he said before heading out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Harry watched him go feeling like the biggest bastard in the world. He looked down at the breakfast Elsie had brought up to him and sighed. It looked really good and as much as he really wasn't hungry after his argument with Malfoy he didn't want the other boy thinking he didn't trust the food he'd been served, so he picked up the fork and began eating.

The food was really good and he managed to eat about half of it before Elsie appeared and asked if he was done. As he handed her the tray he noticed the elf was not at all as friendly toward him as she had been before and he was pretty sure he knew why.

"Elsie," he said her name quietly and she turned back to face him.

"What, Mr Potter?" she snapped.

"Where is your master at the moment?" he asked hoping he might be able to find the young Malfoy and apologise again for being an ass.

"Master is down in the lounge room taking some rest," Elsie snapped back. "And Mr Potter will not disturb him." She vanished without another word.

Harry was deciding if it would be best to just leave the manor or wait for Draco to wake up so he could apologise again before leaving, when it suddenly dawned on him that Elsie's reply had been a little confusing.

He could see the sun shining just a little through the curtains so he knew it was day and not night. Why would Malfoy be sleeping now? And why in the lounge room and not his bedroom? It hardly seemed like a Malfoy thing to do.

"Elsie!" Harry called the elf quietly and she appeared in front of him with a pop.

"What?" she demanded angrily.

"Why is your master asleep at this time of day? And why in the lounge room?" he asked the cranky elf.

"Master's business is not yours to enquire about, but since Elsie thinks Mr. Potter should know, Master had been awake tending to Mr. Potter since master brought him to the manor and Master is not in his bed because Mr. Potter is in Master's bed," Elsie replied sharply before reminding Harry once more that he was not to disturb the master.

"Perhaps it would be best if I left then, so your Master could have his bed back," Harry suggested feeling like he'd been elevated from world's biggest asshole to universe's biggest fucking asshole.

"Elsie thinks Mr. Potter should go too after being so cruel to master, but Master disagrees. Master wishes Mr. Potter to remain, so Mr. Potter will remain until Master says he may leave!" Elsie replied coldly before popping away once more.

Harry watched her go. He was rather surprised that Draco wanted him to stay after the argument they'd just had, but he was pretty sure Elsie would probably hex him if he tried to leave so it was in his best interest not to try. At the same time he wanted to go down and check on Draco, but chances were Elsie would hex him for that too so staying put was his only option. He sighed wondering what he should do while he waited for Draco to wake up and suddenly realised he really needed to use the bathroom.

He moved to get out of the bed but stopped short when he felt a stab of pain jolt up his back. He bit his lip to keep from crying out and stayed still until the pain subsided at least somewhat. He took it incredibly slowly after that, but eventually he made it into Draco's bathroom and over to the toilet. When he was done he limped over to the sink to wash his hands and finally got a decent look at himself.

There was a slight yellowing on his cheek, most likely from where his head had met the wall, but that was about it. He looked down at the rest of his body and saw that there was nothing more than faint bruising around his hips. If it weren't for the nasty stabbing pain in his lower back he would swear it had all been a really awful nightmare.

He limped back over to the bed and carefully climbed back under the covers, settling down comfortably and feeling terrible about it. Draco should be in his bed not Harry and it was only Elsie's threats keeping him there. He'd seen what a house elf could do when they were cranky, Dobby had sent Lucius flying after he'd been freed and Harry didn't have his wand.

Speaking of Lucius, was he there? And what about Narcissa? He was loathe to call Elsie back but he had to find out. The look the elf gave him when she reappeared told him in no uncertain terms that if he called her again she'd likely hex his head from his shoulders.

He asked quickly about the rest of the Malfoy family and she informed him that they were away dealing with family business and would not be returning for some time. She then gave him a look that couldn't be read as anything other than hostile before disappearing again.

So no Lucius and Narcissa; well, that was definitely a weight off his shoulders.

He lay down once more and allowed his thoughts to drift back to Draco. The boy he was more than certain hated him with every fibre of his being had saved his life and was now allowing him to have his own bed while he cared for him. Those thoughts lead on to Harry's injuries or lack thereof. He remembered the nails digging into his hips and the blood pouring from his face after it was smashed into the wall yet there was barely any evidence of that now. Had Draco healed that himself or had he called in help?

Harry didn't realise his eyes had dropped closed or that he was once more drifting off to sleep until the dreams started.

Rough hands on his body, cold stone beneath him, evil voices taunting him, pain, blood, pain…more pain. He fought to get free, screaming and struggling, but he was trapped, he couldn't move. He awoke screaming at the top of his lungs and looked around him wildly expecting danger.

"Harry, it's okay." His attention was drawn to the soft voice and he looked over to see Draco sitting on the bed beside him looking at Harry worriedly. "It's okay, you're safe," the young Malfoy reassured him with a gentle hand on his arm. Harry tensed instinctually and felt guilty when Draco pulled his hand back looking hurt.

Harry caught his hand before it got far and held it gently in his own. "I'm sorry, it's not you I promise," he told the young Slytherin softly.

Draco nodded and gripped Harry's hand tightly. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Harry shook his head, tears slipping from his eyes. It was finally hitting him it seemed and he'd never felt so dirty or helpless in his life. "They hurt me," he sobbed. "They drugged me and they hurt me and I…I…" he trailed off as the tears got the better of him and he dissolved into sobs.

It was only a matter of moments before he was in Draco's arms and the young Slytherin was whispering quiet words of reassurance and rubbing his back soothingly. At that moment Harry didn't care what had happened between them in the past, he clung to Draco's strong body and buried his face in the taller boy's chest allowing the Slytherin to comfort him.

Harry didn't know how much time passed before he got himself under control once more, but when he did he didn't pull away immediately loathe to leave the comfort of the other boy's arms. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice.

"It's okay," Draco replied quietly.

"No I'm really sorry," Harry argued. "I judged you without really knowing you at all and it wasn't fair of me, I'm sorry, Malfoy," he said quietly.

"Draco," the blonde corrected him, "and it's okay, I'm sorry too," he replied pressing his face to Harry's hair and holding him a little tighter. "Here," the young Malfoy said after another few minutes passing Harry a glass of sparkling, blue liquid. "It's a potion to help you sleep dreamlessly. I meant to make it for you earlier but I fell asleep myself," Draco explained.

Harry took the glass from him and sipped the liquid slowly feeling it working on him almost immediately. After a few sips Draco lowered Harry back down onto the bed and took the glass from his hand. He tucked the blankets around Harry and stroked his hair soothingly as he dropped off to sleep once more.

"It's going to be okay," Draco whispered to him reassuringly. "It's all going to be okay."

"Draco…"

"I'm here."

"Don't go," Harry pleaded quietly barely aware of the words leaving his lips. "Stay with me." He didn't care who was there with him at that moment, he just didn't want to be alone.

"I'll be right here, I promise," Draco replied and it was the last thing Harry heard before he slipped into sleep once more.

xx

End of chapter 1

So there it is. Before you say anything yes I know that Draco is probably being far nicer than you would expect but I promise all will be revealed. In the next chapter we will learn a bit more about the life of the young Malfoy heir and why his family.


	3. Nothing is Really ever as it seems

Nothing is ever really as it seems

The next time Harry opened his eyes there was daylight outside once more meaning he must have slept through the rest of the previous day. He did feel a little better though so he was grateful for the sleep and doubly grateful for Draco's dreamless sleeping potion. Speaking of Draco…

Harry rolled onto his back intending to get up and look for the young Slytherin. He was surprised beyond all belief when he turned to face the door and found the young Malfoy asleep on the bed beside him. It was then that Harry remembered Draco's promise to stay with him when he went to sleep. Draco had kept his promise…the thought made Harry smile.

He rolled carefully onto that side and propped himself up on his elbow to study the Malfoy heir. A Sleeping Draco was something Harry had never expected to see in his lifetime and he took a moment to savour the view in front of him. He had never denied that Draco was an incredibly attractive young man, with his alabaster skin, his perfect, gunmetal eyes, his platinum, blonde hair, his just-the-right-shade-of-red lips and his angelic face. He was the kind of boy who, if he smiled just right, could win over anybody or get anything he wanted and unfortunately he was all too aware of that fact.

Harry had always admired his beauty from afar, knowing the young Malfoy heir would never be at all interested in him that way and finding him impossible to be around when he opened his mouth. It had seemed like the safest option and Harry had never allowed himself to dwell on why he wanted to watch Malfoy at all because that just would have complicated his life further. Now however, with a quiet, sleeping Draco lying close enough for him to touch, Harry found those questions jumping to the forefront of his mind.

Draco looked even more gorgeous than normal right now, with his normally perfect hair sleep tousled and his face relaxed into a content expression. All Harry could think about right at that moment was how utterly perfect the other boy was and that scared him…a lot. He'd always been able to ignore his feelings for the Slytherin thanks to the other boy's penchant for being a right prat all the time, but he hadn't been at all unpleasant since he'd rescued Harry and now Harry found he had nothing he could use to push the attraction out of his head. Damn!

He found himself inching closer to the other boy before he even realised he was doing it and before he knew it his face was less than an inch from Malfoy's. He stopped breathing, frightened that the other boy would feel it on his face and consequently wake up and deck Harry very hard. He slowly regained control of his body once more and began to draw back from Draco, but suddenly found himself stopping when a thought flashed into his head.

Draco was asleep, Harry could just lean over and kiss those perfect lips, just once, and Draco would never have to know. Harry considered it for a moment. There was the whole issue of Draco waking up and catching him of course, but another one jumped into Harry's head; would he be able to stop at just one kiss? Once he'd had a taste of the perfect Slytherin's lips would he be able to stop himself from wanting another?

His dilemma was solved for him as Draco started to stir.

Harry lay down and closed his eyes pretending to be asleep and trying to make his breathing appear as even as possible. Even though he had his eyes closed he could tell when Draco's opened. He could feel those gunmetal eyes studying him for a moment before he heard the Slytherin sit up and quietly call Elsie. He heard the elf appear with a pop.

"Can Elsie be helping, Master?" the elf asked.

"Yes, what time is it, Elsie?" Draco asked.

"It be just after 7 in the morning, master," Elsie replied. "Would master be liking Elsie to prepare his breakfast now?" she asked.

Draco paused for a moment, probably in thought, before replying. "Yes thank you, Elsie. Could you prepare a tray for Mr. Potter too and send them both up here please, he should be waking from the sleeping draught I gave him very shortly."

"Of course, master," Elsie replied.

"Elsie, what's with that face?" he heard Draco ask the elf.

"There was no face, master, Elsie happy to be of service," the elf replied.

"Oh I know you're happy to serve me but I get the suspicion you do not share the same enthusiasm about Mr. Potter," Draco replied.

There was silence for a moment before Elsie spoke. "Elsie means no disrespect, Master, Elsie just worries about the Master. Mr. Potter does not speak to the master with respect and Elsie feels some anger toward Mr. Potter because of that, Master."

Draco chuckled quietly. "Mr. Potter and I have a complicated history, Elsie, we have not been friends in the past and Mr. Potter is entitled to be wary of me. Don't take it personally or worry about me because of it, his animosity toward me is my own doing. Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to find a way to erase that animosity, at least a little anyway."

"Does the master desire a friendship with, Mr. Potter?" Elsie asked.

"The master would like a friendship with Mr. Potter very much, Elsie," Draco replied.

"Does the master desire to be more than friends with Mr. Potter? Like the Lord and-"

"I think that's enough questions about my friendships don't you, Elsie?" Draco interrupted her.

"Of course, master, sorry, master."

Harry heard Elsie disappear with a pop and listened for what Draco was going to do next. He heard the Slytherin sigh quietly before moving closer to Harry. He felt those gunmetal eyes studying him for a moment before he felt one of Draco's soft, nimble fingers brush some of his hair aside. He felt Draco pause for a moment before another sigh escaped the Slytherin and he slipped off the bed mumbling incomprehensively to himself. Harry heard the bathroom door shut quietly and he waited until he could hear the shower running before he cracked an eye open.

So, Draco wanted to be friends, he had almost snarled when Draco had refused to answer Elsie's question about wanting more, he would definitely have liked to know the answer to that one himself. It seemed impossible that Draco would want to be involved with Harry, but then again Harry had never imagined Draco saving his life and bringing him back to his mansion to care for him personally, and if Draco didn't want Harry that way wouldn't he have just told Elsie no? Then again it was hard to tell with Draco.

Harry lay on his back, staring at the patterns in the stone wall while he waited for Draco to re-emerge. The Slytherin was surprisingly quick in the shower and he emerged into the walk in robe only shortly after turning the water off, clad only in a towel with his hair still wet and messy.

Harry could have died happy right at that moment.

He bit his lip to keep in the groan that threatened to escape at the glorious site before him and was extremely thankful for the blanket covering his body when all his blood headed south. Draco looked down-right sexy standing in front of his clothes deciding what to wear, it made Harry want to sneak up behind him, pull him against his chest and kiss every stray drop of water from the soft skin of his perfect neck. Oh yeah, he had it bad!

He shook himself mentally, he shouldn't be thinking like this. He'd been raped less than 48 hours ago, sex should be the last thing on his mind…but it wasn't. Then again, how could it be when Draco Malfoy was standing just a few metres away from him, naked save for a towell. He watched the Slytherin entranced until the blonde turned around and headed back into the bathroom with his chosen outfit for the day in hand. Then, knowing Draco would be back out there in only a matter of minutes, Harry set his mind to thinking about other things, like Madam Pomphrey naked or Professor Dumbledore in Speedos, to try and get his south brain to calm down.

Yep, that did it, he was pretty sure the images would haunt him for the rest of his life, but they certainly had the desired effect…and not a moment too soon.

Draco emerged from the bathroom, looking delectably perfect as always in cream, tailored pants and an emerald turtleneck. He smiled when he saw Harry awake.

"Hi, how are you feeling this morning?" he asked moving to sit on the side of the bed next to Harry.

"Better, thank you," Harry replied.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Draco replied with a smile.

"No really, Draco, thank you," Harry said seriously. "You didn't have to save me, or take care of me, but I really appreciate it, thank you."

Draco's smile became warmer at Harry's words. "You're welcome," he replied quietly. "It was my pleasure, believe me."

For a moment their gazes locked and Draco's beautiful, gunmetal eyes drew Harry in to their shining depths. How could one man be so god damned beautiful? It was really doing a number on Harry's brain.

Their moment was interrupted by Elsie popping into the room with breakfast for them both and the young Slytherin helped get Harry's tray settled on his lap before climbing up onto the bed beside him to eat his own. Breakfast was perfect as it has been the previous day complete with the sparkling, orange tonic that Harry decided he must get the recipe for.

The meal was about halfway over when Draco spoke. "I meant to ask you yesterday, is there anyone I should contact to let them know you're okay?" he asked with a curious glance.

Harry thought about it, would Petunia and Vernon even care about where he was? Probably not, he imagined they were just glad to be rid of him again. "No," he replied wondering if Draco would tease him about it.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked quietly. "Weren't you staying with someone while you were on holidays?"

"My mother's muggle relatives," Harry replied. "But they like me about as much as you like muggles so they won't care where I am." He couldn't believe he was telling Malfoy all of this, but then again the other boy had admitted to wanting them to be friends.

"Are they cruel to you?" Draco asked quietly and Harry could hear a dangerous edge to the Slytherin's voice.

Harry thought about how to answer that. Yes his aunt and uncle were awful people as was Dudley but he wouldn't wish anything bad upon them, he wasn't like that, and the tone in Draco's voice told him the young Malfoy would be more than happy to hurt them right back if Harry said so.

That was surprising indeed.

"No, they just ignore me mostly," Harry only half lied.

Draco studied him for a moment before turning his attention back to his food. "What do you feel about them though?" he asked after a few moments. "Do you like them?" Draco asked.

"I don't hate them if that's what you're asking," Harry replied after a moment's thought. "I mean they did take me in after my parents died even though they weren't happy about it. Still, I won't miss them when I can finally move away," he admitted honestly.

"When are you planning on doing that?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged. "When school's finished hopefully," he replied sipping his draught.

Draco nodded again and had another bite of his eggs. After another few moments he spoke again. "I can't imagine what that would be like," he said softly a slightly faraway look in his eyes that hinted at sadness.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked concerned.

"Not having your parents with you, having your family not want you, wanting to get away from them, the thought is so alien to me. It must be hard for you," he said looking at Harry sadly.

Harry nodded. "It is and it isn't," he replied honestly. "I mean I would have loved to have the opportunity to know my parents and grow up with them, but since I never got that chance I can't really miss it, do you know what I mean?"

Draco nodded. "I guess," he replied sipping his drink. "I can't imagine life without my family, honestly the very prospect scares me," he admitted not looking up.

Well wasn't that something? Harry had always been curious about Draco's relationship with his parents. They didn't seem like a particularly loving family on the outside, but then again some people kept their private lives a lot more private than others.

"Can I ask you something?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Draco replied looking up at Harry again.

"Please don't take this the wrong way because I'm not trying to be cruel of judgemental, but your father doesn't really seem like the loving, caring sort, is he like that all the time?" Harry asked.

A warm smile spread across Draco's face and he got that far away look in his eyes once more only this time it was full of happiness. "No," he replied quietly, "no he's not. When we're alone he's a completely different person."

He came back to reality after another few moments and looked at Harry with a bright smile. "My father has a very difficult job, and, as I'm sure you can probably imagine, people who work in any kind of government office or important ministry post are targets for acts of violence or bribery or anything of that sort. My father acts the way he does toward me on the outside because he wants people to think the way I imagine you did before you asked me this question; that he cares nothing for me at all. If people think that, I'm less likely to be a target for those wanting to blackmail my father or use me against him in other ways. The thing is it couldn't be further from the truth. Underneath all the politics and lies my father loves me more than anything. He loves me more than my mother, more than his job, more than our mansion or our abundance of money. He loved me more than he respected his own father which is really saying something in our family." Draco broke off and smiled. "My parents love me a lot, Harry, I'm very lucky," he said quietly.

Harry smiled back, that was nice to hear. "So where are they at the moment? Why aren't you with them?" he asked curiously.

Draco pulled a face. "They're…visiting my father's relatives," he replied. "There was an issue with one of my uncles that needed to be dealt with so they're there at the moment. As for why I'm not with them, well, that comes back to the whole they love me thing," he said with a tight smile. "My father's relatives are not nice people; in fact they're really not nice people. You know how my father is on the outside? Well they're like that all over and they hate me," he explained.

"Why?" Harry asked disturbed by that thought.

Draco thought about it for a moment before replying. "When I was born I was…I was born too early and I wasn't well for a while. My grandfather's mentality was that I was wrong or cursed somehow and that was why my mother went into labour too early. He ordered my father to kill me, which my father vehemently refused. My parents stayed by my side in the hospital until I was well enough to leave and then my father moved us here to keep me away from the rest of his relatives. I have not seen them since and I never will," he explained.

"Draco that's…that's awful…I'm sorry," Harry said quietly.

Draco shrugged. "What can you do? Family aren't everything … well, that's not true, family are worth everything, relatives aren't and yes I make the distinction. I'm not sad about it. I felt sorry for my father when I heard the story thinking that I'd caused him to lose his family, but he told me, in no uncertain terms, that the rest of his relatives meant nothing to him and I shouldn't worry about it. He said they were horrible people and he was glad to be rid of them, my mother told me the same thing," he finished looking down at his cup.

"So if your father hates the rest of his family, why are your parents there helping them at the moment?" Harry asked curious.

"That particular uncle is the least hateable of them all. He at least kept in touch with my father after we moved here," Draco explained. "Plus the rest of the world doesn't know about the rift in our family so if they didn't go it would look very bad."

Harry nodded looking down at his plate which was now empty.

"Can I ask you something now?" Draco asked quietly.

Harry looked up and nodded.

"Does it bother you being here?" he asked quietly. "Would you rather be at home with your mother's muggle relatives?"

"No," Harry answered immediately. "Don't get me wrong it's unusual, I never expected to be in your house, let alone your bedroom, or your bed. For that matter I never imagined you and I having any sort of conversation that didn't involve insults, but no, I don't want to go back there. Despite the fact that I'm pretty sure your house elf hates me I feel more comfortable here. I should probably give you back your bed at some point," Harry scanned the giant, blackwood marvel and looked back at Draco with raised eyebrows. "Although it's big enough that you, me and an entire Quiddich team could sleep in here and not bump into each other."

Draco laughed, really laughed, it was a beautiful sound. "What can I say, I like to stretch out," he said with a grin causing Harry to chuckle along with him. When the laughing died down Draco looked at Harry considerately for a moment. "Your healing is going to take about another three days or so and I wouldn't suggest you move too far until that time passes. After that though it is entirely up to you; I can get you a room of your own, there's plenty in the manor, you can head home to your muggle relatives or floo to the Weasleys if that's what you want, or you can stay right here, the choice is yours," he offered.

Harry studied the other boy for a moment wondering what he should do. The Weasleys were away on holidays at the moment and while they had offered for him to go with them he hadn't wanted to intrude on their family time together. He could go and join them if he wanted to, he was sure they wouldn't mind, but did he really want to? For the first time in his life he was spending time with Draco and not wanting to throttle him. In fact, aside from the injuries, he was finding his time with Draco rather pleasant so far. If he walked away now he would most likely never have a chance like this again and if he were being honest, he would be more than a little annoyed with himself if he threw it away.

"Look, how about I let you think about it for a couple of days, okay?" Draco offered slipping off the bed and heading for the door taking his and Harry's tray with him. "I have some things I need to attend to so I'll leave you alone for a while. Would you like to have a shower?" he asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment and nodded. Elsie appeared out of nowhere and took the trays from Draco and he returned to the bedside and helped Harry to his feet. He got Harry to the bathroom and grabbed him a couple of towels out of the cupboard on the far wall, that Harry wouldn't have even noticed was there if Draco hadn't opened it. He left Harry alone then, closing the door behind him. Harry stripped off the boxers he was wearing and turned on the shower. He climbed in as soon as the water was at a decent temperature.

The water running over his skin felt like heaven and he just stood there for a moment allowing the wonderful heat to loosen the tight muscles in his back. Draco had told him he was more than welcome to use any of the bathroom products so he washed his hair and his body thoroughly. Whatever the products were they smelled amazing, like someone had taken the essence of the earth, a spring breeze and the most wonderfully perfumed rose and added moonlight to it. The scent washed through the room surrounding Harry in a mist of fragrance and he felt a sense of calm settling over him immediately.

When at last he came back to himself he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower grabbing one of the towels Draco had left on the sink to dry himself with. He'd just finished with his hair when he realized he didn't have anything to get dressed in.

A pop behind him alerted him to Elsie's arrival in the room and the Elf was holding a pile of clothing out to him. "Master told Elsie to give these to Mr. Potter. He said they were ordered in your measurements and would fit you," she said.

Harry took the bundle of clothing from the elf and she vanished once more. He put the bundle on the bench and picked each item up to look at what it was. There was a pair of black, satin boxers, a pair of soft, black trousers, a ruby red, turtleneck top and a long, black jumper. Harry pulled the clothes on carefully before looking in the mirror to study his reflection. The clothes fit well and suited him too. He definitely had to remember to thank Draco for them and ask when he'd bought them.

He ran his fingers through his hair and curled a few strands around his fingers before nodding to himself and limping back out of the bathroom. He found Elsie remaking the bed and decided he would head downstairs to look for Draco so he could thank him. He headed out of the room and down the stairs being careful not to jolt anything too much, which was an achievement since he was still rather sore. He was halfway down the incredibly long staircase when he heard voices and froze. Draco had said his parents weren't returning for a while yet didn't he? Had they returned early?

After a few moments he crept closer so he could get a better idea of who it was. He was almost at the bottom of the stairs when he heard Draco laugh and he paused when another masculine voice joined in along with a feminine giggle. So, more than one person was down there with Draco then. He reached the last step and after taking a deep breath he peered around the corner where the voices were coming from to see if he could see anyone. He was surprised to find Draco, seated on the floor in front of the fireplace smiling into the fire. It was a testament to Harry's muggle upbringing that it took him a moment to realize someone was flooing in to the house and Draco was having a conversation with them.

The young Malfoy was smiling happily as a female voice explained something to him and after another few moments he laughed again along with the same two voices as before. He hadn't noticed Harry yet so Harry moved back and headed soundlessly back up the stairs not wanting to intrude on the young Malfoy's private conversation.

"Oh, mother you didn't!"

Harry froze when he heard that, Draco must be talking to his parents which would mean…

"She most certainly did, Draco, it took hours to get it all sorted," another laughing voice replied to Draco's question and Harry found himself in a state of shock. That other voice was Lucius and not only was he laughing he sounded…friendly. Never in his life had Harry ever expected to hear Lucius Malfoy speak kindly to anyone, it was dizzying.

The three of them laughed some more and this time when they calmed down he heard Lucius ask. "So how have things been at the manor? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Draco replied.

"And what about you, how are you, Draco?" Lucius asked with so much caring Harry nearly fainted.

"I'm good, father," Draco replied and Harry could hear the warm smile in his voice. "How are you going with the relatives?" he asked in return.

"I would gladly come home this instant, but things are going as well as could be expected," Lucius replied. He heard the older man sigh before he said. "I miss you, Draco, this place feels so awfully oppressive at any time but it's made all the worse by the lack of your presence. I'm so sorry we had to leave you on your own these holidays, you know I would much rather be there with you," Lucius said in a voice laced with regret.

"We all would." Harry froze when another voice spoke…that sounded disturbingly like…no it couldn't be.

"I know, I'd like you to be here too, but it's okay, you know I understand. Besides, we can make up for it next holidays, it's not like we're never going to see each other again," Draco replied reassuringly.

"Still, it feels wrong, not being with you while we can. This little incident couldn't have come at a worse time," Narcissa -Harry guessed it was her anyway- said.

"How have your holidays been, Draco, did you go out with your friends the other night like you were going to?" Lucius asked.

"My holidays have been…interesting, I've managed to finish plenty of the studying you assigned me before you went away so I've been working on a few new projects which I'll show you when you get home. As far as the other night I did go out with the others, although not for very long," Draco replied and Harry detected a hint of anger in the young Malfoy's voice.

"Really? Why, what happened?" Narcissa asked concerned.

He heard Draco sigh. "They said they wanted to go out but they wouldn't say where. We thought a party or something of the like. It turned out they were planning a prank on one of the muggle-born students from the school," Draco half said half growled.

"Wait a minute, you don't mean-?" Narcissa began and Draco cut her off.

"They took us to muggle London, yes," he replied bitterly.

There was a collective gasp before he heard Lucius speak again. "So what happened?" he asked half worriedly half angrily.

"I figured out where we were and left," Draco replied. "I certainly didn't want to be in the muggle world and I knew you would definitely not want me there so I headed home."

"Are you all right though? Did anything happen to you?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, nothing happened to me, however…" Draco trailed off and sighed. "Mother, I hate muggles, they're disgusting animals!" he snarled quietly.

"Well of course they are, Draco, but what makes you say so now?" Lucius asked quietly.

"I ran into a group of them attacking a wizard on my way home," Draco snarled quietly. "I doubt they had any idea he was a wizard but still…" he trailed off. "They didn't see me, but I hurt them, badly," he admitted quietly. "I know you would have preferred I didn't risk myself or our world that way, but he was only my age, I couldn't leave him to them. It just made me so angry!"

"You weren't hurt though?" Lucius voice asked quietly.

"No," Draco replied.

"And you weren't seen?" the other voice Harry was sure he recognised asked.

"No," Draco replied again.

"Then what's done is done. Did you kill any of them?" Lucius asked.

"No, I nearly did but I managed to refrain," Draco replied.

"How is the young wizard?" Narcissa asked.

"He's recovering, I am seeing to it," Draco replied.

"Is he there in the manor with you?" Lucius asked warily.

"At the moment, yes. You need not worry though; he cannot go anywhere you would not allow a guest. All the wards are activated and tended to thoroughly," Draco explained.

"I'm not worried about the manor, Draco, I'm worried about you," Lucius replied exasperated. "Once someone passes through the outer wards of our territory all you have to protect you is your wand and your jewels, and while I know you're more than capable when it comes to magic you're still only young."

"Don't get so worked up, Lucius, I'm sure Draco would not have brought someone into the manor if he felt they could not be trusted," Narcissa said in a calming tone. "Besides, at least Draco is not alone, he has some company even if it's only for a little while," she reasoned.

"Everything is fine, father," Draco reassured the older Malfoy. "I have my jewels with me; I'm perfectly safe I promise you. Besides, mother is right, I have company for a little while at least and he's very pleasant to talk to, please don't worry."

"We can't help worrying, Draco, you know that," the other male voice said quietly.

"Yes I know, you can't help worrying about me any more than I can help worrying about you," Draco replied, "but believe me, I have more reason to worry about you right now that you have to worry about me, honestly. And on that subject, please take care of yourselves while you're there. I am truly terrified for you and I hate that I'm not there. I know it's your job to worry about me not the other way around, but I am not going to feel right until you are back here where I can physically touch you," Draco said worriedly.

"We're fine, Draco," the other male voice reassured the young Malfoy.

"I know you are right now and I know you're all cautious people who will take every precaution to prevent harm to yourselves and each other, but I would sooner place my life in the hands of a Liken than trust those people, relatives or not. Just be careful, please," Draco pleaded quietly.

"We will, Draco," Narcissa replied quietly. "And you do the same, all right."

"I will, I promise," Draco replied.

"We must go, different time zone and all," the other male voice said regretfully.

"I know," Draco replied a little sadly. "I miss you," he said quietly.

"We miss you too, Draco," Narcissa replied just as quietly.

"We love you, Draco," Lucius said softly. "We'll see you soon all right."

"I love you too," Draco replied. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Draco," all three voices replied in synch and Harry heard the floo shut off.

Harry waited a moment before heading back down the rest of the stairs and peering out. Draco was still sitting in front of the fireplace staring into the flames, a sad expression in his lovely, gunmetal eyes. That decided it as far as Harry was concerned, he was going to stay here with Draco for the rest of the summer, or, at least until his parents came home. He knew how hard it was to be all alone and after everything Draco had done for him the last few days the least Harry could do was stay and keep the Malfoy heir company.

Decided he headed out into the open area and over to the other boy. "Hey," he greeted quietly.

Draco's head snapped up, obviously he hadn't heard Harry's approach, and Harry saw a hint of tears in Draco's lovely eyes.

"Harry," Draco greeted him quietly in return before standing up and moving over to meet him halfway. "You should be in bed," he chastised softly taking Harry's arms gently in his hands and leading him over to the couch to sit.

Harry winced as his backside touched the chair but the pain wasn't as bad as he'd expected it to be –he loved that damn healing draught-. "I wanted to come down and say thank you," Harry replied as Draco propped pillows up around him to make him more comfortable.

"What for?" Draco asked curiously.

"The clothes," Harry replied pointing to the jumper he was wearing.

Draco looked momentarily confused before it obviously dawned on him what Harry was talking about and he smiled. "Oh, it was nothing really. I realized yesterday I had no idea where you were staying over the holidays and you'd need something to wear eventually. I took your measurements with my wand and sent them over to the family tailor. I got you a few other things too they should be arriving this afternoon."

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that," Harry said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Draco replied his smile widening a little.

Harry looked down at his hands then and asked. "I heard voices on my way down, were you talking to your parents?" he asked not wanting Draco to know he'd been listening.

"Yeah," Draco replied looking away too. "They're doing okay, still don't know when they'll be home though," he finished looking back up at Harry with a tight smile.

"I'm sorry, it must be hard for you," Harry said softly.

Draco looked down again. "It's a part of life," he said softly. "I've been a little spoilt up until now with the amount of time I get with my parents, not everyone has that," he finished looking up at Harry again and like earlier in the day Draco's soft, gunmetal eyes drew Harry in. He wanted to hug the other boy's pain away while at the same time wanting to disappear completely into the Slytherin's arms and never leave. He knew how wonderful it felt to be held by the young Malfoy after the previous evening and he craved the return of that feeling, even if the idea was completely crazy and if Ron knew about this he'd think Harry had gone nuts.

Not wanting to make an idiot out of himself by staring too long Harry spoke. "I…ah, I want to stay here…with you," he stammered and mentally kicked himself for it. "If you don't mind," he added when Draco's eyes widened in surprise.

The young Slytherin smiled and Harry was sure his heart stopped for a few moments. "I'd like that," he replied brightly and Harry felt himself smiling right back.

"Yeah, I think I would too," he replied.

Draco took a breath and stood up. "Okay then, I guess we'll have to organise to get your things from your mother's relatives, I'm assuming there's things there you'll be wanting. Are they going to give us any trouble if we go and pick them up?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "I doubt it; I imagine they'll be glad to be rid of me for the rest of the summer. I can go and get them myself though you don't have to come; I doubt your parents would be all that thrilled with the idea of you being in the muggle world."

Draco waved his hand. "We won't be there long and I'm not about to let you go alone, who knows what could happen to you," he said a tinge of worry in his voice.

Harry didn't argue with him this time although he'd do his best to keep Draco out of his aunt and uncle's house, the last thing he wanted was his uncle anywhere near the young pureblood.

XX

end of chapter.

So what did we think? Were you surprised by the nice Lucius? What about Harry's response to Draco when he comes out of the shower and what he has to think about to cure his little problem?


	4. Animals and Explanations

Animals and Explanations

They spent the rest of the day talking, reading and a little of it sleeping in the early afternoon. They had dinner together up in Draco's room since the young Malfoy was adamant Harry needed to stay in bed as much as possible. After dinner Draco said he had study to do and asked Harry if he'd like something to read. Harry considered the offer for a moment before declining and asking Draco about what he was studying.

"Potions, healing craft, illusions…there's quite a bit actually," Draco replied with a small smile.

"Why are you doing so much study while you're on holidays?" Harry asked curiously.

Draco looked at him considerately for a moment. "It's…complicated," he replied. "I'd like to tell you but I'm not sure if I should just yet, I'm sorry, it's kind of a family secret," he explained looking at Harry guiltily.

"That's okay," Harry replied with an understanding smile. "Which are you studying tonight?" he asked.

"Potions," Draco replied holding up a large book.

"Read some to me," Harry suggested slipping down a little further under the blankets.

"Huh?" Draco asked confused.

"If you're going to be reading it anyway read it out loud," Harry clarified. "If what you're reading about is anything like that healing draught I'd definitely be interested in hearing about it," he finished settling down comfortably on his side.

Draco frowned for a moment then nodded. "Okay then," he agreed and opened up the book to the page he'd marked. As Draco read to him Harry closed his eyes, listening to the words but mostly just listening to Draco's soft voice. He'd always heard about parents who read to their children to help them get to sleep at night and he'd always thought it was a silly notion, surely the reading would just keep the children awake, or so he'd thought. Harry however, was swiftly being proven wrong as Draco's lovely soft voice washed over him lulling him to sleep.

Sometime later he awoke just a little to feel a gentle hand brushing his hair away from his face and soft lips pressing against his temple.

"Goodnight, Harry," he heard Draco's lovely voice whisper and he fell back to sleep with a soft smile on his face.

XX

The next few days passed quickly and at last Harry was healed enough to get up and walk around without pain. He'd had another couple of nightmares over the last few nights and was always awoken gently by Draco who calmed him and lulled him back to sleep. Their nightly ritual hadn't changed either after that first night, every evening Draco pulled out a different book and read aloud until Harry fell asleep before reading the rest of the chapter in his head and finally going to sleep himself.

Harry hadn't been awoken on any of the following nights by Draco's soft hands against his hair however unless he was having a nightmare and he was starting to think that other time had just been a dream. He was extremely disappointed by that thought.

They had breakfast together and each had a shower and dressed before heading over to Harry's aunt and uncle's house to collect his things. Harry was nervous all the way there, he was really hoping he'd be able to convince Draco to stay outside when he went in, he could only imagine the problems that might arise if he were to come face to face with Vernon. They arrived at the house in Draco's magically, self-driven car –it was the funniest thing Harry had ever seen, all black with dark windows and a steering wheel that turned itself- and Draco climbed out before holding the door open for Harry.

Harry got out and took a deep breath before heading up to the front door. He found the spare key they had hidden in a fake rock and unlocked the door before heading in. He called out to see if anyone was home and sighed in relief when no one answered. He ushered Draco inside before closing the door behind him and headed up the stairs as quickly as possible. He reached his room and flung the door open only to stop in the doorway, frozen.

His room had been ransacked, things thrown about everywhere, as if someone had been looking for something. He felt anger pulse through him as he realized it was probably Dudley looking around for things he could steal. He stepped into the room, anger radiating from his every pore. He stopped when he heard a crunch under his foot and looked down to find the photo of his parents lying face down in the middle of the floor. Afraid of what he may find he leant down and picked the picture up from the floor holding it for a moment before turning it over. The frame was broken from where someone had probably stood on it. He felt his hands beginning to shake as more anger coursed through him and magic began to sizzle in the air around him. He wanted to hex the bastards, all of them. He'd done nothing but serve them his whole life and never asked for anything, how dare they do this to him?

"Harry."

He'd show them, oh yes he would! How would they feel if he destroyed their house and all their memories?

"Harry."

He would burn this place to the ground; destroy all their precious pieces of junk they valued so highly.

"HARRY!"

He snapped back to reality at Draco's worried cry and turned back to find the other boy standing in the doorway, his normally perfect hair windblown, and it was then that Harry realized he must have been working up quite a magic storm with all the anger churning through him. "I'm sorry," he said humbly pulling back from the anger and looking down at the picture once more.

Without warning tears began to slip from his eyes and they fell on to the photo in his hands. He was angry, yes, but more than anything he was hurt. He knew they didn't care for him at all but he never thought they'd do this. He didn't hear footsteps but the next thing he knew Draco was beside him pulling Harry into his arms. Harry held the photo against his chest and buried his face in Draco's shoulder sobbing.

"I'm sorry," the young Malfoy whispered stroking his hair softly. "I can't believe they did this to you, what monsters."

Harry couldn't disagree with the young Malfoy, he was definitely right there. As soon as he'd calmed down enough to pull away he looked around the room for his trunk. He found it still under the bed and pulled it out placing it on the bed and opening the top. He searched around the room for anything he might want to take with him and if he found something he cared enough about he threw it into the trunk. All his Hogwarts things, his photo album, birthday gifts from his friends, his father's cloak which thankfully Dudley had no clue about. He opened his closet and pulled out the few clothes he had that were worth taking and threw them in too. He was doing one last cursory examination of his room when a small box appeared in front of him. He looked down at it and found that it was his box of letters from his friends.

"It doesn't look like there's any that are damaged but I wouldn't know if any of them are missing," Draco said quietly.

Harry took the box and opened the lid. Indeed they weren't damaged and it didn't look like any of them were missing. He replaced the lid and slid the box into his trunk with everything else, whispering a thanks to Draco. He resumed his examination of the room and suddenly froze. There was something valuable missing from his room.

"Hedwig," he heard himself gasp and ran to the window calling desperately for his owl. When he heard nothing he began to panic. No, surely they wouldn't take her; they didn't even like her in their house. "Hedwig!" he called again tears beginning to burn his eyes once more. He was about to call her again when a loud screech sounded overhead. Draco moved to his side and they both looked up to see Hedwig flying toward them. More tears burnt at Harry's eyes only these weren't born out of pain. It was like he'd lost everything only to find the most valued thing he'd ever known was still there and in a way that was true; Hedwig was his only link to Sirius.

She landed on his outstretched arm and he pulled her close cuddling her to him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her feathers. "I'm sorry I didn't come for you sooner."

Hedwig made a quiet hoot and tilted her head into him.

He pulled back after a few moments and said. "We're leaving this place, okay; can you fly yourself to Malfoy manor for me?"

The owl hooted quietly and rubbed her head against him once more before taking off and heading in the direction of Draco's house.

Sighing in relief Harry turned to look at Draco.

"Are you ready to go?" the Malfoy asked him quietly.

Harry nodded and headed back to the bed. He closed the trunk and pulled it off the bed before picking up the broken picture of his parents and heading out of the room. They headed out to the car and were loading the trunk into the boot when the Dursley's car pulled into the driveway and Vernon leapt out with Dudley hot on his tail.

"Potter!" Vernon spat racing up to him and Harry was more than a little surprised when Draco stepped in front of him and scowled at the man.

"Don't you dare come near him you filthy muggle," Draco spat.

"And just who are you?" Vernon demanded.

"I'm the wizard who would like nothing more than to hex you into oblivion and the only reason I'm not is because Harry doesn't want me to. He is above you, so far above you that you may as well be a cockroach under his shoe and he'll not be staying here for you to mistreat him anymore!" Draco snarled and Vernon looked like he wanted to explode.

"How dare you speak to me like that?" Vernon spat.

"I shall speak to you anyway I wish, animal!" Draco snarled in response. "You know after spending some time with Harry I was beginning to think maybe I'd been wrong about muggles, after all he turned out to be a decent person and he was raised by you beasts. Now I see I was right all along, you are animals, filthy, violent, beasts and you will never be anything more! Now we are leaving, don't try and stop us!" Draco snapped before turning to Harry and ushering him toward the car.

Harry, for his part, knew he should be arguing with Draco that muggles weren't all that bad, but he couldn't bring himself to, not after what they'd done to him. He turned away from the muggle family he'd grown up with and headed back to the car sliding in when the door opened for him automatically. He was about to slide across when he heard Dudley call out something and he looked back to see the boy charging at Draco. Draco turned back just before Dudley reached him and Harry saw a flash of green as Dudley hit an invisible barrier and fell backwards holding his nose that was now gushing blood.

Harry watched in shock as Draco looked down at Dudley distastefully before turning his attention to Vernon who'd rushed forward to tend to his son.

"Leash your dog will you," Draco said, with that superior air only he could pull off so well, before turning and heading back to the car. He slipped in beside Harry and shut the door behind him.

"Take us home," he ordered the car before turning to look at Harry. He reached out and pulled Harry into his arms holding him gently and stroking his hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered pressing a kiss to Harry's hair before burying his face in it.

Harry cuddled into him pressing his face into Draco's shoulder. He could smell that lovely shampoo of Draco's lingering in his silken blonde hair and Harry took a deep breath feeling the scent wash over him and calm him as it had done the first time he'd come across it. They rode back to the Manor in silence and when they arrived Draco climbed out of the car before helping Harry out and ushering him inside.

He ordered Elsie to get Harry's things out of the car and take them up to his room before taking Harry up there too.

Harry dropped down on to Draco's bed and looked sadly at the picture which was still in his hands. He heard Elsie pop into the room with his things and Draco dismissing her before the young Malfoy came and joined him on the bed. He reached out and tilted the picture toward himself so he could see it a little better and studied it for a moment before drawing out his wand. Harry watched at Draco held the wand to the picture and whispered.

"Restituo statua."

Harry watched wide eyed as the photo sparkled and the frame slowly inched back into place before becoming solid once more. His parents looked up at him and smiled once more before looking over at Draco and mouthing their thanks.

Draco nodded to them before turning his attention back to Harry. Harry looked back at him with a grateful smile.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Draco returned his smile before pulling Harry into his arms like he had done in the car. Harry cuddled into him looking down at the photo whose inhabitants were now back to smiling and waving. As he leant his head on Draco's shoulder it struck him how familiar and comfortable the hold was. By all rights it should be more awkward, after all they'd spend most of their lives fighting and snarling at each other, but Harry found he felt nothing but a sense of contentment and calm like he'd never known before. Wasn't that interesting?

"What do you want to do now?" He heard Draco ask after a while.

Harry thought about it, what did he want to do? Well, to be honest, he wanted to curl up beside Draco and sleep for a few hours but could he really ask for that? "I want to sleep for a while to be honest," he replied softly.

"Do you want me to leave you alone or stay with you?" Draco asked.

Well, if Draco was giving him the option. "Stay, please," he replied quietly.

"Okay," Draco replied before pulling away and climbing up the bed. Harry followed and once he was settled Draco lay down beside him. The young Malfoy's eyes burnt into him for a moment before he asked. "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. "I'll be okay. Thank you, Draco," he replied quietly.

Draco nodded his gunmetal eyes studying Harry for a moment. "I'm sorry I was cruel to your relatives, I didn't mean to be, I was angry," he said after a few minutes.

"It's okay, it not like they don't deserve it," Harry replied. "What did you do to Dudley by the way?" he asked.

"Nothing," Draco replied. "I put up a shield and he ran into it. I have to admit, if I hadn't been so angry at the time I probably would have laughed," Draco admitted with a small smirk.

Harry chuckled quietly. "I probably would have too," he replied. They shared a grin for a moment before Harry spoke again. "Thank you for what you're doing for me," he said quietly. "I really appreciate it."

"Like I said the other day it's my pleasure," Draco replied with a soft smile. "You're probably going to think I'm crazy when I say this but I like you being here, it's nice getting to know you outside of school and away from everybody else," the young Malfoy admitted.

"You're different," Harry noted quietly. "You're not like you are at school, why is that?" he asked. "Are you just being nice to me because I got hurt?"

Draco looked away and for a while he didn't answer. Just when Harry was about to ask if he was okay, Draco spoke. "No, that's not why," he said in a voice which was so quiet Harry only heard him because they were lying so close together. He waited for Draco to continue and after a few moments he did. "What I said the other day about father being different on the outside, well, I have to be like that too," he explained. "If I wasn't everybody would know my weaknesses and they'd try to use them against me, I couldn't handle that," he admitted quietly.

"Who would?" Harry asked quietly.

"Everyone; the faculty at Hogwarts, the rest of the school, the ministry, my father's relatives, probably them more than anyone and believe me they're everywhere. The less anyone knows about me the better, no one else gets hurt that way," Draco explained quietly.

"You have friends at Hogwarts though," Harry argued quietly. "Are you not concerned about them?"

"You'll notice everybody I befriend has nothing to fear from anyone," Draco explained. "Crab and Goyle have nothing really to lose when it comes to academics so the faculty can't penalise them for being my friends and none of the other students at the school are game to touch them. Parkinson, Zambini are my other friends and their parents' influence over everybody protects them a lot like mine protects me. You'll also notice that our interactions aren't anything like friends talking to friends, they're more like a master addressing his subjects."

Harry thought about it; that was certainly a fitting way to describe the way Malfoy always spoke to those around him. "You're right, it is like that," he admitted.

Draco nodded. "You'd never guess we'd all been friends since infanthood and that they matter more to me than pretty much everything outside of my parents would you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Exactly, it's all part of the game we play," Draco said with a sad smile. "It would be nice not to have to but…" he trailed off and shrugged. "We don't have that luxury."

"Wow," Harry said quietly. "I would never have guessed that."

Draco nodded, "That's right, you wouldn't would you. Hence the game is working the way it needs to."

"That must be exhausting," Harry said with a grimace.

Draco shrugged. "It used to be, I'm just kind of use to it now. When it gets to me too much I just remind myself that I'm doing it because I care for them," he said with a wry smile.

"It's sad though, that you have to pretend like that, are you sure it's necessary?" Harry asked.

"Sadly, yes. Do you want to hear something really funny though? And you're not going to believe me," Draco asked.

"Okay," Harry agreed.

"The Weasleys, Arthur and Molly, my father doesn't hate them," Draco told him.

Harry just stared at Draco like he had a screw loose. "You're right, I don't believe you," he replied.

"Told you you wouldn't," Draco replied with a grin. "He doesn't hate them though, I'm not lying."

"Why is he so awful to them all the time then?" Harry asked.

"Why are we all the way we are?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow in Harry's direction.

"Protection," Harry replied.

"Exactly," Draco said with a nod. "Protection. The Weasleys need more protection than anyone else does from the ministry," he explained.

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"They don't play the game, they don't hide their feelings, they don't guard themselves well enough. Arthur Weasley is in the lowest possible position he could be in and my father ensures he stays there, because while he's down there he's not a problem for anybody in the ministry and they have no reason to look at him. If he were just a little more cautious and wary of the ministry he'd be able to ascend through the ranks, but he won't change and any higher position would make him a target for the ministry's wrath which would put his family in danger," Draco explained. "I know you think the ministry are all good wizards who care about us and want the best for our world and so does Arthur, but it just doesn't work that way, Harry, corrupt people are everywhere, influencing everything and they could do a lot of damage to Arthur and his family if they wanted to." Draco finished.

"And your father's so cruel to him because-"

"Because he's the one responsible for keeping Arthur where he is and if the ministry thought, even for a moment, it wasn't because my father hated him his family would become targets," Draco finished the sentence for him.

"Wow, I really hate politics," Harry groaned quietly.

"You and me both," Draco replied with a wry smile.

"If the ministry hates your father so much why not just remove him from his position?" Harry asked.

"They can't because of his family's influence in the ministry," Draco replied.

"But you said his family hate him," Harry argued.

"Yes, but the ministry don't know that and no one will ever tell them. If anyone ever found out that one of the Malfoy family split off from the rest it would look like the family was weak and the ministry would attack them, hence, none of the family will ever admit that there's a rift between us. My father has threatened them with revealing the truth about our withdrawal if they ever lay a hand on my parents of myself, it's kept them at bay for quite a while," Draco divulged.

"So why hide your feelings from them?" Harry asked.

"Because if they had something to hold over us too we'd lose the upper hand and become vulnerable to attack," Draco replied.

"Okay, now my head hurts," Harry groaned.

Draco chuckled, "This is far too heavy a conversation for us to be having after the day you've had anyway," he said quietly. "Go to sleep for a while, hey."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed.

"Harry, I'm a Slytherin, by definition that means I'm always right," Draco said with a smirk.

Harry laughed. "You're such a modest creature aren't you," he said jokingly.

"Of course," Draco agreed sarcastically.

Harry smiled at the Slytherin and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to wander back to what Draco had said earlier about weaknesses and people exploiting them. Really, if he thought about it, it made sense as much as he might wish it didn't. He was surprised to find himself suddenly worried about the young Malfoy and his family, surely knowledge like that wasn't easy to live with. Add to that the fact that his relatives all wanted him dead because of some stupid belief about evil and Draco had really had a difficult life. Harry may have grown up without his parents but at least, for the first 10 years anyway, he'd never known what it felt like for someone to want him dead and he'd never had to pretend he didn't care about someone to keep them safe.

He opened his eyes and looked at Draco to find his own gunmetal eyes closed, a lock of soft, blonde hair having fallen over them. Harry had always thought of the young Slytherin as the enemy, untouchable and unconcerned about everyone and everything around him. He'd always thought Draco lead such a charmed and carefree life, how wrong could he have been.

Without thinking he reached out and brushed that lovely lock of platinum hair away from Draco's face, surprised by how soft it was even though he really shouldn't have been. Draco's gunmetal eyes didn't open but his hand came up to grip Harry's tightly.

"Are you afraid?" Harry whispered.

"Every day," Draco admitted. "Fear is as second nature to me as breathing. Are you?" Draco asked in return.

"Since I learnt about Voldamort, all the time," Harry admitted. "That was one thing about growing up away from the wizarding world; I never knew what kind of horrors were really out there waiting for me."

"Would you go back?" Draco asked.

"Not for anything," Harry answered immediately. "Particularly not now."

"Miss Granger and Weasley would you?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, that and I'd have to move from here and I'm far too comfortable," Harry replied with a grin trying to lighten the mood.

Draco laughed and Harry knew his plan had worked at least somewhat. "Good point," the Slytherin conceded.

Harry closed his eyes once more, feeling at least a little better if not really all that much. He realised after a few moments that Draco was still holding his hand and he reached up with the other one to place it comfortingly over the Slytherin's. He smiled warmly when he felt Draco do the same right back.

XX

End of chapter

Ok so like I said a little detailed but hopefully understandable. Again let me know if I should continue with this story or not. See ya


	5. Surprises, Potions and Misunderstandings

Surprises, Potions and Misunderstandings

When Harry awoke it was to find himself alone in Draco's massive bed. He sat up and looked around for the young man but when he didn't see him anywhere he called for Elsie.

The Elf appeared with a pop and asked him what he wanted.

"Where is your master?" Harry asked quietly.

"Master is downstairs with Mr Alonzo. He requests Mr Potter's presence when Mr Potter feels ready," Elsie replied before disappearing once more.

Curious Harry headed into the bathroom to check his reflection quickly and smooth his hair down, as much as it was possible with his untameable mop, before heading down the stairs. He found Draco standing in the main room at the bottom of the stairs with an older man, probably in his 30s. He was holding a large, black drape of fabric over his arm and talking animatedly to Draco about…something.

They both looked up as Harry entered the room and the older man; Harry figured was Mr Alonzo, clapped excitedly and grinned at Harry.

"Ah, this is Mr Potter," he exclaimed brightly in a voice heavily laced with a French accent. "Hello, hello I am Alonzo," he greeted moving forward to shake Harry's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr Potter."

Yep, Harry was rather used to his by now.

"Nice to meet you too, Sir," Harry replied politely and Alonzo smirked at Draco.

"My, my, he is a polite one isn't he," he said.

"He is at that," Draco agreed coming forward and ushering Harry further into the room. "Mr Alonzo is the man who made the clothes I gave you, Harry," Draco explained as they went.

"Oh, thank you," Harry said to the older man. "They were very nice."

"Ah, not as nice as what I have in mind for you now I've seen you my dear boy," Alonzo replied, an excited gleam in his eye.

"What?" Harry asked half confused half worried.

"Alonzo wants to design a wardrobe for you, something fitting to a wizard since you've grown up with muggles and they dress a little differently to us," Draco explained leading Harry over to one of the couches to sit him down. "But you do not have to accept if you don't want to," Draco told him gently. "Alonzo just doesn't know when to stop designing," he added with a wink in the other man's direction.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy is correct, I am terrible, it is an insatiable passion and requires an outlet at all times, so," he looked at Harry with pleading eyes, "please let me design for you, I will make your wardrobe beyond perfect just like Mr Malfoy's."

Draco threw Harry an apologetic smile before turning back to Alonzo. "Give Harry a minute to breathe, Alonzo, he's only just woken up," he ordered but it was in a light, friendly tone.

"Very well," Alonzo agreed dejectedly before holding up the black fabric. He looked from Harry to the fabric then back again. "I think the colour tone should suit him nicely," he announced before folding the fabric back over his arm.

"Good," Draco replied with a nod. "Thank you, Alonzo."

"And for the inside," Alonzo produced a set of fabric swatches out of…somewhere and came closer to Harry holding them up next to his face. He looked from Harry to the swatches and back again before pulling several out and handing them to Draco. "Which of these, any will work with his features?" he asked.

Draco studied them for a moment before looking at Harry and holding them out to him. "Which colour do you like better?" he asked.

Harry studied the swatches. They were single tone colours and appeared to be made of satin. One was emerald green, the next was ruby red and the last was a warm gold. "Um…why?" He asked quietly.

"It's a surprise," Draco replied. "Just pick which colour you like better."

Harry was confused but he pointed to the red. "That one I guess," he replied.

"Excellent," Alonzo replied pulling the swatches back. "I shall get started right away, it will not be long," he announced before heading toward the door. He turned back to face Draco before he headed out. "Please get him to at least consider my offer," he pleaded before disappearing through the doorway.

Draco sighed in exasperation. "Sorry about that, Alonzo's a little much to handle I know, but he's very good at what he does," he apologised.

"Why does he want to design a wardrobe for me?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "He just enjoys dressing people, and when I mentioned you had dark hair and bright green eyes it was like watching a child light up on Christmas morning," Draco replied with a wry smile. "I'm sorry he ambushed you. How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Okay I guess," Harry replied still too shocked after meeting Alonzo to know how he was feeling.

"Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat? It's a little after lunch time," Draco asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I'm not hungry," he replied.

Draco nodded, "Okay." The Malfoy heir looked away for a moment before saying. "Hey, you've been couped up in here for a while recovering, now you're better would you like to see outside?" he offered.

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds nice," he replied.

Draco helped him up off the couch and they headed outside. Harry had been out there earlier in the morning before they'd headed to his Aunt and Uncle's as well as when they'd come back but both times he'd been far too absorbed in his own thoughts to pay attention to his surroundings. Now that he was he couldn't help but be in awe of what he was seeing.

Malfoy Manor was a large, black, stone structure set in the middle of an open field which was surrounded on three sides by mountains. There were lovely gardens set into the front of the house full of exotic flowers and trees and creeping vines which climbed along the stone giving it an almost wild look. There was a large swimming pool set on one side of the manor with trees and greenery growing around it giving it an exotic feel while the other side of the yard was open and contained the driveway, a small garden for decoration and a few trees dotted here and there.

The back of the yard held the most interest for Harry. There were several gardens set into a circular shape all through the back yard and a large green house attached to the manor itself. There were small gaps between the gardens for people to walk through and set into the middle was a large gazebo type of structure with a lovely outdoor setting in the middle and several swinging chairs around the edges.

The grounds were beautiful and Harry was mesmerized by all the colours and scents surrounding him. "It's beautiful," he breathed.

"It is," Draco agreed. "It's lovely out here in the morning and late afternoon. When we have the time we sit out here on the swinging chairs and watch the sun disappear behind the trees over there," he pointed to an area where the mountains fell away revealing a lovely section of sky and forest.

"Do you get to do that often?" Harry asked.

"If we're home," Draco replied. "It's rare to get all of us at home at once sadly, but before I started going to Hogwarts we did it almost every afternoon."

"So, I know they're not here but, can we do it this afternoon?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Of course we can," Draco replied and Harry smiled.

"Thank you, I think it'll be really nice," he said softly and he would definitely enjoy watching the sun set with Draco while he had the chance. "So, what are all the plants in these gardens? Do you know them all?" he asked to distract his mind from thinking about the other things he'd like to be doing with the Malfoy heir on one of those chairs.

"I do actually," Draco replied and began to name them all. Some were normal garden variety plants even muggles grew, others Harry had only heard of at Hogwarts and others still he hadn't heard of at all. There were hundreds of different plants and Harry couldn't help but wonder what they were all for.

"Different things," Draco replied when he asked him. "The potions I've been making for you have all used ingredients from out here as well as others from the greenhouse," he explained. "The products in the bathroom my mother and I made from things out here."

"Wait a second, you made that?" Harry asked surprised.

Draco looked surprised by his shock. "Of course, I am the best potions student in all of Hogwarts, Harry, making mixtures like that is nothing compared to some of the potions I can create," he replied.

"Oh, I didn't mean to sound like I didn't think you were capable, I just didn't realise that was your own mixture. Can you teach me how to make it? I really like it," he asked hopefully.

"You…want to learn how to make a potion…while you're on holidays?" Draco asked and Harry didn't miss the shock in his voice.

"Yep," Harry replied with a grin. Shocked and confused Draco was kind of cute.

"Okay," Draco replied after a moment's thought. "Did you want it the same as mine or would you like to design your own?" he asked.

Harry thought about it. He really liked Draco's product and since discovering it that day in Draco's shower Harry had realised the lovely scent also clung to the young Malfoy making him smell the same. As such Harry had started to associate the scent with Draco and it made him feel calm and…dare he say it, safe, whenever he encountered it. For that reason it would be nice to have a bottle of Draco's mixture when he left the manor to remind him of the other boy and the time they'd spent together these holidays.

At the same time however he didn't want to get so used to the smell that he didn't notice it on Draco anymore and it consequently lost its effect on him. He mulled it over for a few moments before asking. "Can we make one of each?"

Draco frowned and nodded. "If you like," he replied heading over to the greenhouse and picking up two baskets from just inside the door. He handed one to Harry before leading the way back to the garden. "Do you remember the rules about bases, scents all of that from potions class? Were you listening when Snape explained it?" Draco asked.

"It may surprise you to know that yes I was listening and yes I do remember," Harry replied with a smirk.

Draco grinned back. "All right then." He pointed out toward the gardens. "All of them are labelled by what they are and what category they fall into. Find the scents you like and take a small clipping of each- oh do you know how to do that with your wand?"

Harry nodded

"Okay, take a small clipping of each and bring them back to me, just a tiny one off the end of a branch not too much, and I'll let you know if the scents are going to work together or clash. Once you've worked out the combination you like we'll get more of that plant and take it inside okay?" Draco finished.

"Okay," Harry agreed and headed over to look at the plants. It took quite a while for Harry to sort through all the scents but finally he had the ones he liked and he was taking them over to Draco. Draco had collected all the parts he usually used for his own mixture and ground them down ready to use while Harry was finding his. He sorted through Harry's quickly and told him which ones would work with what and by the time he was done Harry had four combinations to choose from, one of which Draco told him was very similar to the mixture Severus used so he instantly dismissed that one. In the end he asked Draco which one he liked better and decided to go with that one –he didn't tell the Slytherin he'd chosen that one so Draco would enjoy being close to him-.

They collected enough of each ingredient to make the potion and Draco showed Harry how to ground them all up so they were fine enough to use before they headed inside. Once they reached the inside of the manor, rather than heading upstairs like they would have if they were going up to Draco's room Draco lead him down a corridor that ran deeper into the bottom level of the manor. They passed several doors on both sides, the doors on the right had had runes on the outside while the ones on the left had paintings.

The first door on the left had a large, black dragon, with glittering scales like obsidians painted on the front, the second a large white dragon with scales that glittered like moonstones, the third another black dragon with a white mane and lastly, the door Draco stopped at, had a large, white dragon similar to the one on the second door only it had glittering emerald on the inside of its wings and a stripe of black that ran from its neck all the way down its body to the underside of its tail stopping at the tip.

Draco pressed his hand to the door and the dragon's glittering black eyes opened. It studied him for a moment before a small snarl left its lips and the door swung open. Draco led them inside and no sooner had they entered but there was a small flash of light and candles leapt to life around them. There were several set into the walls as well as several large candelabras placed strategically around the room and whole bunch set into a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. All of the fixtures and candelabras were made of shining, black stone like the inside walls of the house and were ornately carved with large dragons and serpents.

The room itself had surprisingly little in it. There was a large, black, stone work bench built into the floor and raising up to perfect standing height with chairs positioned around the outside. There was a fireplace in one of the back corners with a rail set over the top for hanging a cauldron and the rest of the walls were lined with cupboards, smaller work benches and bookshelves. Draco led Harry over to the bench in the middle and told him to put his basket down. He then knelt down and pulled a medium sized cauldron out of a cupboard built into the back of the work bench that Harry would not have even noticed if Draco hadn't opened it.

He put the cauldron up on the bench before pulling out a couple of bowls, stirring utensils and a large, black, stone ring. With everything now on top of the bench he smiled over at Harry. "Okay, ready to start?" he asked.

XX

Several hours later they had almost finished both mixtures and Harry was helping Draco pour the first one into bottles while they waited for his to cool. Harry had to admit Draco made a very good teacher and it was amazing to watch him work. While he'd been teaching Harry how to mix the ingredients and the right flame to use they'd talked more about their lives up until now and what they wanted to achieve. Harry wanted to be an Auror and Draco wanted to be a potions master which Harry thought suited him.

They finished pouring the liquid into the bottles and corked them before Draco cast a cleaning spell on everything they'd used and headed over to find a quill to mark the bottles.

"How many of these would you like to keep?" Draco asked. "You can keep them all if you like but I'm not sure you'll get to use them all while they're still good."

They'd ended up making the body wash out of Draco's mixture and a shampoo and body wash out of Harry's. The shampoo lived for a year the body wash lived for eight months but since he had two lots of it Draco was right, he probably wouldn't get to use it all himself before it went out of date.

"How about I take three and you take the rest," Harry suggested.

Draco nodded. "Okay," he agreed.

"Did you want to keep some of mine?" Harry suddenly asked without realising the words were coming out. "You know, to remind you that you taught the apparently unteachable Potter," he added trying to save face."

Draco laughed. "Sure, I'd like that," Draco replied. 'Thanks."

Harry nodded and turned his attention back to the bottles on the table. He'd never liked potions but he'd had such a good time making these with Draco. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad learning about potions if Draco was his teacher.

"Oh, it's almost 6; did you want to watch the sunset?" Draco asked suddenly.

Harry agreed and they left the other potion to cool while they headed back outside. They headed over to the swinging chair Draco had mentioned earlier and sat down just as the sun was beginning its descent. Harry smiled as the golden ball sank lower, Draco hadn't been embellishing when he said it was beautiful. Harry glanced over at Draco beside him and froze. The light of the setting sun complimented him so beautifully, shining off his lovely platinum hair and sparkling in his gunmetal eyes making them look for all the world like molten quicksilver.

It should be a crime to be so beautiful but Harry was so absorbed in staring at the younger man he didn't care. The sunset was lovely but watching it play on Draco's skin was lovelier still.

As if Draco could feel Harry's eyes on him he turned to face him and froze himself when he saw he had Harry's attention. They just stared at each other for a minute before a warm smile crossed Draco's lovely features.

"The light of the setting sun really compliments you, Harry," he said softly and Harry barely managed to nod.

"You too," he replied barely above a whisper.

He looked down when he felt Draco's hand take his and he turned it over to slip his fingers through Draco's. He looked up again when he felt Draco's other hand glide along his face and he found Draco studying him intently. The Slytherin stroked Harry's cheek before pulling his fingers back and lifting them up to brush aside Harry's fringe. He saw Draco's eyes narrow slightly as they focused on his scar and he gently swiped his thumb over it.

Harry braced himself for the sting that usually accompanied anyone touching his constant reminder of Voldamort's existence only it never came. Instead he felt a warm tingling feeling flow through him and he gasped in shock drawing away from Draco's hand wide eyed.

The Slytherin looked surprised, guilty and hurt all at once and Harry felt really bad as his gunmetal eyes lost some of the warmth Harry had seen in them these last few days and he looked down.

"I'm sorry," he whispered pulling his other Hand out of Harry's and drawing them both back into his lap.

No, Harry didn't want this, Draco had been warming up to him, they'd been getting closer and Harry was enjoying it, he didn't want it all ruined before he'd even had the chance to know the other boy properly. He slid across the chair until he was right beside the Slytherin and took Draco's lovely hands in his.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I-"

"It doesn't matter," Draco cut him off pulling his hands away.

"No, Draco, really, let me explain," Harry asked quietly.

"You don't have to explain. I understand, really," Draco replied still not meeting Harry's eyes.

"But I-"

"It's fine, let's go inside," Draco cut him off once more standing up and heading back to the house before Harry could say anything else.

Harry watched him go not sure whether he should follow or not. He'd obviously upset Draco but he couldn't make it better if the other boy wouldn't let him explain. He looked over at the spot between the mountains they'd been watching and found the sun almost gone from view. He sighed internally at the thought that he'd not only upset the other boy, but he'd ruined the sunset for Draco as well.

Sighing quietly Harry stood, feeling more than a little depressed, and followed the Malfoy inside.

XX

end of chapter

ooh there's some drama unfolding, what's going to happen with our two favourite boys now? All will be revealed in the next chapter I promise.


	6. Exploding Potions and More Nightmares

Exploding potions and more nightmares

Harry sat at the table with Draco having a far too quiet dinner. The Slytherin had barely spoken all evening and Harry was finding the silence nearly impossible to take. Every bite he took of his dinner stuck in his throat and he had to force himself to keep eating. Draco had barely looked at him either, his eyes always focused on something else. Harry hated this, he wanted to fix it but Draco wouldn't let him explain.

"Your healing is complete now," Draco suddenly broke the silence and Harry looked up surprised.

"Huh?" he asked quietly.

"Your healing is complete," Draco repeated. "At least it seems so to me, are you still in any pain?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "No I'm fine, thank you," he replied.

Draco nodded and looked back at his food. "Elsie's going to make up a room for you tomorrow, so you can have some space of your own while you're here," he continued and the loss Harry had been feeling since that afternoon suddenly began to burn in his stomach threatening to expel anything else he tried to force into it

He gripped his fork tightly in his hand and looked down at the table. "Okay," was all he could say too upset to think of anything else.

He heard the chair scrape on the floor as Draco stood up leaving more than half of his meal untouched. "You'll have the bed to yourself tonight anyway, I have some study to catch up on down in my work room," he said as he pushed his chair back in. "Goodnight, I hope you sleep well," he said curtly before walking away from the table and heading back toward the main room.

Harry dropped his fork and hung his head in his hands. What in the world had happened to make Draco change so drastically? He was acting less like the boy Harry had come to know over the last few days and more like…well…like Lucius on a normal day. Harry wouldn't stay here the rest of the summer, he couldn't; the manor was far too oppressive when Draco wasn't being Draco anymore.

He pushed away from the table and headed upstairs to Draco's room. He felt cold, so terribly cold it was awful and he felt himself beginning to shiver just a little. He shook his head as it suddenly occurred to him that he felt like he'd been reverse micro-waved. He was such a muggle, maybe that's why Draco wasn't letting him explain his side of things from earlier that afternoon, maybe he'd decided that Harry was too much of a muggle to bother with. Maybe Draco was hoping Harry would get annoyed and leave on his own so Draco wouldn't have to say anything at all. Maybe…Harry sighed; thinking over possibilities wasn't helping any. Perhaps it would be best to sleep on it and hope Draco was more easily approachable in the morning.

He headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower hoping the hot water would warm him on the outside at least a little. He thought about using Draco's body wash so he could at least try and fool himself into believing Draco was close by when he went to bed, but then he thought better of it and reached for the bottle of his own that Draco had left on the counter.

He showered quickly, not even noticing that his and Draco's concoction from this afternoon smelled really good and headed out to where Elsie had left his trunk that afternoon. He opened the lid intending on finding his normal pyjamas he'd packed and wearing them rather than the ones Draco had given him. When he opened it however, the trunk was empty of clothing and Harry didn't have to ask to know Elsie had probably taken them to wash.

With an annoyed sigh he found the pyjamas Draco had given him and pulled them on getting more and more cranky by the moment despite his earlier decision to stop thinking about what was going on. He couldn't stop his mind from racing and wondering what the blonde was thinking. He thought people always said women were hard to reason with, anyone who said that had obviously never met a Malfoy. He didn't bother brushing his hair; he just let it flop however and dumped himself into bed pulling the blankets up.

The huge, blackwood marvel that usually made him giggle with its immense size felt empty without Draco's presence in it and Harry found it impossible to warm up or get comfortable no matter what he did. Finally his temper reached burning point and he couldn't take it anymore. He flung the blankets aside and stomped out of the room. He stormed through the hall, down the stairs, down the corridor to Draco's workroom and yanked the door open without knocking.

Draco was sitting at the workbench in front of a bubbling cauldron holding a vial of power which he seemed to be adding to the mixture. Harry's entrance obviously startled him and Harry saw the other boy's hand dip quite violently spilling a large amount of the green dust into the cauldron.

"What the hell-?" Harry began only to be cut off when Draco's eyes widened at the potion in a mixture of shock and fear. He dropped the vial he'd been holding on the floor and raced toward Harry.

"Harry, run!" he called and Harry looked at the potion to find it bubbling violently, the whole cauldron shuddering and groaning.

Draco reached him then and he barrelled into Harry knocking him to the floor out in the corridor and covering Harry's body with his own. Less than a moment later the potion exploded and hot, bubbling, black liquid flew in all directions. Harry watched wide eyed as it coated the room showering the walls, the chandelier, the candelabras, the books and work benches, there was barely a spot left untouched.

Then, it was flying toward them.

Harry cried out as he realised it was going to hit Draco and he tried to roll them so Draco wasn't the one on top but he found he couldn't move.

"Draco!" he called out the other boy's name in fear.

"It's okay," he heard Draco's gentle voice reply and Harry saw the potion stop as it reached the doorway, deflected by a shield of some sort. The invisible shield ended up completely covered in black potion but none of it left the confines of the room and Harry sighed in relief. He'd seen how hot that potion was, just the thought of any of it hitting Draco and the damage it could have done…

Draco leant up on his elbows above Harry and looked down at him and it was only then that Harry really noticed that Draco's body was pressed entirely against his. He looked up at the other boy, his eyes burning into concerned gunmetal.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked softly.

Harry nodded before pulling his brain together enough to ask. "Are you?"

"I'm fine," Draco replied quietly.

"Good," was all Harry could think to say right at that moment and he felt incredibly stupid about it but his brain seemed to have run away.

Draco moved to get off him and without thinking Harry reached up and caught the Slytherin's upper arms keeping him where he was. "I don't want my own room," he told the Slytherin quietly. "I want to stay in yours and I want you in it with me," he confessed feeling tears burning his eyes.

A shocked expression met Harry's admission and since he'd come this far Harry figured he may as well continue. "I know you're upset with me, I know you misunderstood what happened earlier, but you won't let me explain and I don't know why you're being so stubborn. I've been trying to work it out but all I can come up with is that you've suddenly realized it was a mistake saving me and bringing me here and now you don't know how to tell me you want me to go. If that's the case then just say it, okay, I'd rather know the truth then think you care when you don't," he finished feeling a tear slip from one of his eyes but not wanting to let go of Draco to brush it away.

If this were the last chance he'd ever get to touch the other boy he was going to make it last as long as he could. He hated the idea that Draco might not care about him and he chastised himself mentally for even bothering to ask the Slytherin the question or daring to hope but he couldn't help it. He wanted to believe it, he wanted to think that maybe something would go right just once in his life.

For a moment Draco just stared at him, shock and pain shining in his lovely gunmetal eyes. Then his lips were on Harry's. Harry gasped in shock before slipping his arms up around Draco's neck and kissing him back. Draco's lips felt heavenly against Harry's and a quiet moan escaped him drawing an answering purr from Draco. After a few moments Draco drew back and leant his forehead against Harry's his lovely, gunmetal eyes gazing into Harry's.

"I don't want you to have your own room either," he breathed.

Harry took a shuddering breath and brought his hands up to slide into Draco's hair. The Slytherin closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath of his own growling quietly once more as he brought his lips back down to Harry's. Nothing Harry had ever experienced in his life had ever felt so good. He left one hand in Draco's hair while the other slid down Draco's back coming to rest at his hip. His fingers brushed across a patch of skin which had come uncovered and Draco purred quietly in pleasure deepening the kiss.

They pulled apart when a quiet chime sounded in the room they'd just left.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"The room's safe to enter again," Draco replied quietly. "I need to go back in and clean up the potion."

"Do you want me to help?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "No it's okay, it won't take long. Besides, the wards won't let anyone else in there until everything's cleaned and sorted again," he explained.

"Oh, okay," Harry replied looking down. He really didn't want to be away from the other boy right now, he had this stupid idea that Draco might run away if he did.

"Hey," Draco said softly bringing one of his fingers up to hook under Harry's chin and lift his face up so they were eye to eye once more. "I wasn't lying before when I said I have study to catch up on. I promise when I've made this potion correctly I'll come up to bed okay."

Draco's eyes held nothing but sincerity and Harry nodded in acquiescence. "Okay," he agreed with a soft smile.

Draco returned his smile and climbed to his feet before helping Harry to his and pulling him into a gentle hug. "I shouldn't be long okay," he whispered.

"Okay. Just be careful all right," Harry replied holding him back.

"I will," Draco promised before pulling back and kissing Harry gently. He pulled away after a few seconds and Harry gave him one last smile before heading back upstairs feeling far better than he had when he first went to bed. He still didn't know why Draco hadn't let him explain himself earlier, but at least he knew they'd get the chance to talk about it now.

He smiled to himself as he curled up in bed once more. Draco had kissed him and it had been really good.

XX

Dark…cold…rough…voices all around him jeering at him, taunting him, laughing at him. He looked up and he could see them, the awful monsters who'd drugged and violated him were back and somehow they'd gotten a hold of him again. He was forced up against the wall just like he remembered and he fought to get free, screaming for help.

The leader was behind him once more, his hands crushing Harry's hips in their rough grip. No! This wasn't going to happen, Draco wouldn't let them hurt him, he'd come, he'd save him, Harry knew he would.

"Just in case you're wondering nobody's going to save you from us this time little thing. You see the boy who rescued you last time, well; he's in a pickle of his own."

Harry heard a heavy thud beside him and he looked over to see Draco lying on the ground. naked and bleeding, his hands were bound behind his back, his body a mass of bruises and blood, his lovely, platinum, blonde hair stuck to his face with blood and a whole lot of other fluid Harry didn't want to identify. His feet were bound together just like his hands and there was fresh, bright red blood dripping down his legs.

Draco's lovely, gunmetal eyes were all but swollen shut and Harry could see tears leaking out of the edges.

"Draco," he gasped.

"Harry," Draco sobbed through lips that were split and swollen. "I'm…I'm sorry," he gasped. He took another shuddering breath and Harry heard a quiet sob escape him before his body stilled completely.

"Draco," Harry called quietly. "Draco," he tried again when he got no answer. "Draco." His calls were met by nothing but silence and Harry felt his soul shatter in his body as he realized Draco was dead. "No," he gasped tears spilling from his eyes. "Draco, no…DRACO NO!"

Harry's eyes flew open and he sat up in bed tears streaming from his eyes as he searched desperately for the Slytherin. "Draco! Draco!"

The door to the bedroom burst open and the young Malfoy ran to Harry's side. "Harry what's wrong?" he asked frantically.

Harry threw himself into Draco's arms burying his face in the other boy's chest and sobbing.

Draco held him back stroking his hair softly and whispering quiet, calming words. When Harry's sobs had subsided Draco kissed the top of his head gently and asked him what had happened.

"Nightmare," Harry replied.

"About the attack?" Draco asked.

"Kind of," Harry replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked.

Harry shook his head; he definitely didn't want Draco to hear what he was dreaming about.

He felt Draco's arms tighten around him and the Slytherin stroked his hair once more. "It's okay, it was just a dream," he whispered. "I'm right here, I promise."

Harry cuddled into him tighter and breathed in his lovely, calming scent until he was in control once more. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't mean to interrupt your study."

"It's okay, I was on my way up to bed anyway," Draco replied stroking Harry's hair softly. "Will you be okay while I jump in the shower quickly?" he asked.

Harry nodded and pulled away. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied.

"Okay," Draco said softly leaning forward to kiss Harry gently on the forehead before slipping off the bed and heading into the bathroom.

Harry lay back down on the bed and listened to Draco moving around in the bathroom. Where had that dream come from? Sure the attack he could understand but what about the other part? Had he been dreaming about Draco dying because of earlier in the day when he'd been ignoring Harry and Harry thought he'd never speak to him again? He pondered over it until Draco returned to the bedroom and slipped into bed beside Harry.

He slid over to Harry's side and held his arms out in invitation, one that Harry accepted gratefully. He lay his head comfortably on Draco's shoulder and cuddled in close as Draco's arms closed around him. They lay there in silence for a moment before Draco spoke.

"Would it sound crazy if I said I've wanted to do this for as long as I've known you?" he asked softly.

Harry chuckled. "Not nearly as crazy as you might think," he replied. "I would have wanted the same if I'd allowed my brain to even ponder what I felt about you before now."

"Liked me did you?" Draco asked with a soft smile.

"Far too much," Harry admitted. "I just refused to admit it to myself."

"Take heart in knowing you weren't alone in your infatuation," Draco replied with a chuckle of his own.

"Look at us now," Harry whispered. "I never would have imagined this happening between us."

"Oh I imagined it, I just thought it would stay in my imagination," Draco replied causing Harry to grin.

"Guess you have a better imagination than I do," Harry replied.

"Maybe," Draco replied pulling him closer. "Now that we're here how are you feeling about it?" he asked quietly and Harry detected a hint of worry in the young Slytherin's tone.

"I'm happy," he replied with a smile. "What about you?"

"Really happy," Draco replied kissing Harry's hair gently. They were silent for a few moments more before Draco whispered. "Are you okay?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied reassuringly nuzzling his face into Draco's neck gently and kissing the soft skin.

Draco shivered slightly and tightened his grip on Harry once more. "We should get some sleep then," he suggested. "Would you like some of that dreamless sleeping potion?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I think I'll be fine," he replied.

"Okay, good night, Harry," Draco whispered kissing his hair once more.

"Good night, Draco," Harry replied closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep once more.

XX

End of chapter

I hope you like the boys making up


	7. The Queen

The Queen

The following morning was a different experience for Harry. He awoke to Draco gently stroking his face and kissing his forehead. He smiled and opened his eyes slowly to look up at the lovely Slytherin.

"Good morning," he said softly.

"Good morning," Draco replied just as softly leaning up onto his elbow to study Harry. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Better, thank you," Harry replied.

"No nightmares?" Draco asked.

Harry shook his head, "Not this time. How about you, did you sleep well?" he asked in return.

"Well yes, I had this gorgeous Gryffindor sleeping beside me so my dreams were very pleasant," Draco replied with a grin.

Harry chuckled. "Glad to be of assistance," he replied.

Draco chuckled back before trailing off and giving Harry an adoring smile. "I'm really glad you're here," he confessed softly.

"So am I," Harry admitted.

They shared a smile for a few moments before Draco spoke once more. "So, what would you like to do today?" he asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment before replying. "Lie in bed all day and stare at you," he replied, smiling as Draco grinned.

"I like that idea," he replied reaching out to stroke Harry's hair gently.

Their gazes locked and Harry was drawn into the lovely, gunmetal depths of Draco's eyes like he had been so often over the last few days, only this time he didn't have to look away.

"Draco," he said the other boys name quietly.

"Mmm," Draco replied just as quietly.

"How the hell did you get to be so pretty?" he asked without thinking.

Draco laughed quietly and leant forward to kiss Harry gently. "Probably the same way you got to be so damn adorable," he replied.

They were sharing a smile when there was a quiet knock on the door and they both looked toward it with a curious frown.

"Come in," Draco called and Elsie popped into the room.

"Begging the master's pardon but a letter had arrived for you," the elf informed Draco handing the young Slytherin a letter. Draco thanked her and asked her to prepare breakfast before unfolding the letter to see what it said.

"Oh, it's from Mr Alonzo," he told Harry after a few moments. "He'll be over in an hour with your present."

"Oh, okay," Harry replied disappointed that their quiet morning in bed had been interrupted.

Draco smiled understandingly and put the letter on the bedside table before taking Harry's hands gently in his. "Tell you what, how about we have breakfast, have a shower, get dressed and go down to see Mr Alonzo. We'll get your present and as soon as he's gone again we'll head outside, lie out on the grass in the shade and stare at each other for the rest of the day out there. How does that sound?" he asked.

Harry smiled and nodded. "I like it," he agreed as Elsie appeared with their breakfast.

XX

An hour later on the dot Elsie was knocking on the door once more and announcing the arrival of Mr Alonzo. Harry finished with his hair and met Draco back out in the bedroom before they headed downstairs together. They reached the bottom and froze.

Alonzo was standing in the middle of the main room surrounded on all sides by clothing racks full of clothes.

Before he could stop it Harry's mouth had dropped open and he was gaping like a goldfish. "Um…" he began but couldn't find the words to finish the sentence.

"No this isn't the surprise," Draco answered at least one of the questions currently floating through his mind. The young Slytherin moved forward and stared around him in shock before turning to face the smiling Mr Alonzo. "Um…good morning, Alonzo," he greeted as politely as he could. "What is all this?" he asked.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Mr Alonzo replied excitedly. "I know young Mr Potter hasn't agreed to allow me to create his wardrobe but I was so absorbed in the idea that I couldn't see anything else until it was done, so, I did it. What do you think?" he asked Draco.

"It's not what I think that matters, Alonzo," Draco replied eyeing the clothing warily.

"Of course not." Alonzo rushed forward and grabbed Harry's hand pulling him forward. "What do you think, Mr Potter?"

Harry was still too shocked to do more than stare at the insanely large amount of clothing in front of him. "Um…well…"

"Look at that, he's speechless, how wonderful!" Alonzo all but squealed.

"Um…" Harry turned to Draco and the other boy looked back at him sympathetically. How was he supposed to tell Alonzo he'd probably never wear half of the stuff the man had brought over? He and Draco shared a look for a few more moments before Harry finally found his voice. "They're all lovely, Mr Alonzo but um…I'm not sure I'll even have a chance to wear half of this stuff…I mean I'm still in school and we don't get to go out all that much-"

"Oh not to worry there, Mr Potter, you're attached to a Malfoy now, there will be plenty of occasions for you to wear these things I'm sure," Alonzo interrupted him with a gleeful smile.

Harry felt himself blush and he looked away. Was that what he was now, attached to a Malfoy? The very idea thrilled him and frightened him in equal measure. He was struggling to think of something to say when Draco saved him.

"The clothes are all very lovely, Alonzo. Why don't you give Harry a chance to look over them? He can decide what he wants to keep and we'll send the rest back to you all right?" the young Malfoy suggested although Harry could tell that behind that suggestion sat an order only an idiot would ignore.

Mr Alonzo was apparently not an idiot. "Yes, yes, absolutely, I will go and allow you to peruse my creations," he conceded heading toward the door. "I hope you will consider every piece, I designed them all specifically for your colouring." He reached the door and turned back. "Oh and Mr Potter's present is on the chaise, Mr Malfoy, I took the liberty of having it wrapped for you. I designed a matching one for you; it's wrapped in tissue paper beneath Mr Potter's. I shall hear from you soon I hope. Remember, all the items I brought over today are yours to keep free of charge since I went ahead without your approval, Mr Potter. If you ever need me to design anything else I will be more than happy to do so. Have a lovely day," he called out at last and slipped outside.

For a moment the receiving room of Malfoy manor was completely silent as Harry continued to contemplate what Mr Alonzo had said about him and Draco. It was soon broken by Draco's sigh of defeat.

"Mr Alonzo never quite knows when to quit I'm afraid, I'm sorry he did this without your permission," the young Malfoy said softly moving over to Harry's side and brushing his hair back from his face. He must have seen the blush currently colouring Harry's cheeks because he paused and asked Harry what was wrong.

Harry looked up into the other boy's concerned grey eyes for a moment before looking away once more. "Nothing," he lied not knowing how to explain what he was thinking.

Draco studied him for another few moments before pulling Harry into his arms. Harry cuddled into the Slytherin, pressing his face to the other boy's shoulder and allowing Draco's lovely, calming scent to wash over him.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked once more, pressing a kiss to Harry's hair.

"Nothing I'm fine," Harry replied, allowing himself to sink deeper into the Slytherin's arms, and this time he wasn't lying. He felt good, wonderful in fact, aside from the whole shock of Mr Alonzo showing up with more clothes than Harry had ever seen in his lifetime he was more content that he'd ever been. For the first time in his life he felt like he belonged…which was really saying something since he was in Malfoy manor and had never expected to be there at all let alone feel like he belonged there. Still, there was something he should get sorted out now so he didn't get his hopes up for no reason.

"Am I attached to a Malfoy, Draco?" he asked quietly.

He felt Draco tense and for a moment Harry was worried that the other boy was going to pull away from him.

"Do you want to be?" The Slytherin's question took him by surprise but he knew his answer.

"Yes."

"Then yes, you are attached to a Malfoy. How are you feeling about that?" Draco asked.

"Good, really good, happy," Harry replied. "As long as that Malfoy is you of course," he added with a grin.

Draco chuckled. "Well I hardly imagined you'd want to be attached to one of my parents," he replied jovially.

"Oh I don't know…" Harry began only to be cut off by Draco slapping him lightly on the arm.

"Not funny, Potter," the Slytherin scolded but his voice was soft and adoring.

Harry chuckled back and brought his face across to press into Draco's neck. "Yeah but you like me all the same," he retorted kissing the soft skin his lips found before Draco could respond.

The Slytherin trembled slightly, taking a deep, slightly shaky breath and releasing it before bringing one of his hands up to Harry's chin. He drew Harry's face up and gazed into his eyes for a moment before bringing their lips together in a soft, gentle kiss.

Harry reciprocated immediately bringing his hands up to slide into Draco's lovely, platinum hair.

They broke apart after a few moments and Draco pressed his forehead gently against Harry's. "What do you want to do now, sweetheart?" he asked softly. "Do you want to sort through all this now or head outside like we were planning and come back to it later?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. On one hand he really wanted to go through it all now and get it sorted so he didn't have to worry about it again. On the other hand he would really like to just go outside and lie down in the shade with Draco for a while. It was a toss-up, what did he want to do? He finally conceded that it would be better to get his all sorted now so he could enjoy his afternoon and with a sigh he turned to face the mountainous pile of clothing in front of him.

"Let's get this sorted now, then I can have you all to myself for the afternoon," he replied to Draco's question.

The young Malfoy gave him a sympathetic smile and lead him over to the racks to begin sorting through it all.

XX

Several hours later and a very tired Harry was finally done with his sorting. In the end he'd been surprised by how many of the clothes Alonzo had created for him that he might actually have some use for.

He smiled as he watched Draco directing Elsie and the other house elves to either send the clothing back or put it away in his cupboard upstairs. He'd been amazingly patient with the whole experience and very helpful when it came to deciding what Harry should and shouldn't keep. He had to admit, if it weren't for Draco being there with him he probably would have given up on the whole thing before he'd even made it through one garment.

As Draco finished giving out directions to his elves Harry headed over to the Slytherin and slid his arms around his waist pressing a gentle kiss to the back of his neck. "Thank you," he whispered softly. "That would have been a nightmare without your help."

He was marvelling at how wonderful it felt to be able to hold the blonde like that when Draco turned in his arms and wrapped his own around Harry in return.

"You're welcome, although you really shouldn't be thanking me since it's my fault you were in that situation to begin with," he replied softly leaning down to kiss Harry gently on the forehead. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," Harry replied quietly cuddling into the other boy. "As much as it wasn't my favourite way to spend a morning at least I got to spend it with you. Besides, now we have all afternoon to spend together, outside, under the trees."

"We do at that," Draco agreed. "Before we do though there's something I want to give you." He said pulling out of Harry's grasp and taking his hand. He lead him over to the couch and picked up the gift he'd asked Alonzo to create for Harry which was still where the other man had left it, wrapped up in lovely, gold paper. He handed it to Harry with a small, slightly nervous smile. "I hope you like it," he said quietly.

Harry returned his smile, a small blush creeping up on his cheeks. He moved over to the couch and sat down with the present in his lap. He waited for Draco to sit down beside him and pulled gently at the paper, not wanting to rip it too badly when it looked like it probably cost a lot of money. At last the paper fell away and Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he pulled the garment out and studied it carefully.

It was a long, black cloak, perfectly tailored in soft, rich, fabric with a long hood and long, slightly billowing sleeves. The inside was lined with the red, satin fabric Alonzo had asked him to choose that first day and the front was held together by… Harry just stopped and stared at the golden clasp he now cradled in his hands.

Tears filled his eyes and he blinked a few times trying to clear them before he looked up at Draco who was watching him nervously. "This…this is…my family crest," Harry said quietly.

Draco nodded, "I found it in a book a little while ago and I asked a jeweller to make it while Alonzo was designing the cloak," the Slytherin explained softly. "Do you like it?"

Harry looked down at the cloak and the clasp in his hands before looking back up at the young Malfoy with a watery smile and nodding. "Yes, I really do. Thank you, Draco, so much, it's beautiful and this…" he trailed off looking down at the clasp once more. "Thank you…I…really don't know what else to say," he finished, a tear finally escaping his eyes.

Draco smiled softly and reached out to catch the tear before it reached Harry's jaw. "You're welcome," he replied stroking Harry's face gently. "I know you never really got to be part of the Potter family but everyone should have something that reminds them of who they are and where they've come from. I imagine there's probably a lot you don't know about your family, there's a few books in the library that have information about them if you want to know more. I can show you if you like," he offered.

Harry nodded, 'I'd like that," he replied with a smile before suddenly realising Draco had said something that didn't quite compute. "You have a library?" he asked curiosity momentarily pushing aside the tears.

Draco chuckled, "Yes we do," he replied. "Quite a large one actually, the door to it is at the end of the corridor my work room is in."

"Huh, I didn't notice," Harry replied thinking back to the time he'd spent in the hallway up until this point and trying to remember if he had ever seen a door down there. He really couldn't remember seeing one, but then again he couldn't remember seeing the end of the corridor either.

"You wouldn't have noticed you haven't been near the end of the corridor yet. You seem to be forgetting just how large the manor is, Harry, that corridor goes on for quite a while before it gets to the end," Draco explained. "Do you want to see it?" he asked moving to stand up.

Harry caught his arm before he could go far and pulled him back down beside him. "Not just now," Harry replied sliding over so he was right next to the blonde. "We already have plans for this afternoon, remember? Besides, you haven't opened your cloak up yet and I'd like to see it," he added nodding toward the wrapped bundle on the other side of the Slytherin.

Draco smiled and reached over to pick up the bundle. He unwrapped the parcel and pulled his cloak out, smiling as he took in the detail. It was a lot like Harry's only with slightly different stitching and a different cut to accommodate the young Malfoy's body shape. The lining was green rather than red and the clasp at the front was the Malfoy family symbol in white gold rather than yellow.

He looked over at Harry and smiled, "We match…well, almost," he said softly. "They're just different enough not to look matching if we wear them at the same time, Alonso's good like that. Come on, stand up, I want to see it on you," he directed climbing to his feet and pulling Harry up with him.

Harry chuckled at the other boy's enthusiasm and undid the cloak. He pulled it on and settled it on his shoulders before doing up the clasp and looking at Draco once more. "What do you think?" he asked.

Draco smiled, "Gorgeous," he complimented walking around Harry so he could view it from all angles. "You look wonderful," he finished as he reached the front of Harry once more.

"Your turn," Harry instructed indicating Draco's cloak.

The young Malfoy complied standing up straight for Harry's examination when he was done. "Well, Mr Potter?" he asked.

Harry studied the other boy for a moment. "You're sickening," he decided after a few moments a smile spreading across his face as he remembered that the other boy was his now. "I don't know how you manage to look so perfect in everything but it's not fair and I think you should tell me your secret," he ordered.

Draco chuckled at him and moved forward to envelop Harry in his arms. "You're far more perfect than I am, Harry Potter, you just don't realise it yet," he whispered pressing his lips to Harry's before he had a chance to argue.

Harry melted into the kiss, sliding his arms around Draco's neck and pulling himself closer. When they broke apart a few moments later Draco smiled adoringly down at Harry and brought their foreheads together.

"Ready for our afternoon outside?" he asked softly.

Harry nodded and allowed Draco to take his hand and lead him outside.

The pair spent the afternoon lying, cuddled up together, on a blanket Draco seemed to pull out of nowhere, enjoying the rare sunlight. They watched the sunset together before heading inside for a lovely dinner which they ate by candlelight before heading to bed. Draco did his normal reading while Harry fell asleep and he was vaguely aware of Draco turning the light off and snuggling up beside him before consciousness left him completely.

"Harry…Harry," the voice called to him quietly and he opened his eyes to find himself standing in a large, dark room, the only light source being two torches on either side of a large throne which sat on a raised dais in front of him. He couldn't see anything else; however he could hear the quiet breathing of something he guessed was quite large coming from somewhere nearby. A strange, magical energy he'd never encountered filled the room and an old and powerful presence surrounded him. He should have been afraid but somehow he wasn't, whatever was nearby he knew it didn't want to hurt him.

"Who's there?" he asked softly knowing he would be heard.

"Harry Potter, I have to admit I wass wondering when you'd be closse enough for me to speak with you like thiss," A sibilant, female voice spoke from behind him. "Admittedly you have been closse enough for a few dayss now but I wanted to give you time to ssettle in to the manor and for you and Draco to ssort out your issuess before we sspoke."

Harry heard footsteps behind him and he turned to see a figure approaching from what appeared to be a set of stairs off to the right of the dark room. As she got closer he studied her appearance and was somehow not at all surprised to find that her face looked almost reptilian in appearance. She stopped in front of him and a smile ghosted across her features.

"Hello, young prince, it is a pleassure to have you among uss at last. My name is Draca and I have been waiting a long time for you," she explained.

Harry returned her smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady," he returned her greeting not sure how he knew the correct way to address the woman standing before him but trusting his instincts.

"Do you know who I am young prince?" the woman asked.

Harry thought about it and in mere moments the answer came to his head. "You're the queen," he replied.

Draca smiled once more. "That I am, young prince and I have a very important job for you to do. Will you accept it?" she asked.

He didn't know what she wanted him to do but he also knew it didn't matter. She was the queen; he would do whatever she asked. "Of course, Lady," he replied without hesitation.

Draca smiled once more. "I am glad to see that you trusst me, young prince, that trusst is going to be important in the times that are sswiftly approaching," Draca explained moving toward the throne. "You are one of our chossen, Harry, we did what we had to in order to enssure you would be born into thiss world, at thiss time and would find your way here to uss when you were ssupposed to. You are a very important young man, prince, and you have an important role to play in what iss to come. You have fulfilled part of that role already by finding your way to uss and forging your relationsship with Draco, we are mosst proud of you both for having the sstrength to overcome your passt."

"Thank you, Lady," Harry replied with a smile. He was pleased that she was happy with him and doubly pleased himself with where his relationship with Draco was heading.

"When you wake sshortly you must assk Draco to explain the hisstory of the blood to you before bringing you to ssee me. He will know that I have sspoken to you and will mosst likely be quite pleassed with thiss turn of events," Draca explained.

Harry nodded. "I will ask, Lady," he assured the queen.

Draca nodded, "Then I will leave you now. Goodnight, Harry, I will ssee you in the morning," she said and suddenly the room disappeared from Harry's view.

Harry opened his eyes and looked up at Draco who was still asleep with his arms wrapped tightly around Harry. He thought about letting the other boy sleep for a while longer but he was desperate for answers. What was the blood? Where was Draca? And how did he know who she was? He knew without question that it hadn't just been a dream. Again he wasn't sure how he knew he just knew.

Leaning up on his elbow Harry hovered over the gorgeous boy allowing himself a minute or two to enjoy the view of sleeping Draco. When he'd had his fill of watching the other boy, at least for the moment, he leant down and kissed the gorgeous Slytherin smiling when a soft purr escaped the other boy's lips. He pulled away and looked down into adoring, gunmetal eyes.

"Good morning," he greeted the other boy with a smile.

"Good morning," the young Malfoy replied returning his smile sleepily.

They gazed at each other for a moment and Harry felt himself getting sucked in as he was prone to doing. Then, the dream flashed through his mind, breaking him out of his trance and reminding him of what he had to ask the other boy. "Draco?"

"Mmm," the blonde replied.

"What is the blood and how do I find Draca?" he asked.

For a moment Draco just stared at him. Then, a smile lit up his face and before Harry knew it Draco had pulled him into his arms and was rolling them around on the bed laughing happily.

"I hoped so badly that you'd turn out to be one of us. You have no idea how wonderful this is, Harry!" The young Malfoy exclaimed

Draco was right Harry wasn't exactly sure how wonderful this was, but if it made the other boy this happy he knew it had to be pretty damn good.

XX

end of chapter

So what did we think? Curious? Please review and let me know, more reviews means quicker updates 'hint hint LOL'


	8. History of the Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, for those of you who may not have seen this story has crossover themes with Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy, so anyone who's read it, if you see any similarities here, that's why. The other warnings I want to give you here are that this is an explaining chapter about the blood, not the whole thing but a big chunk of it, sorry if that's boring in sections but I wanted to get the basics out of the way in one chapter so I didn't have to keep going over them. Also, a new relationship will appear in this chapter, not anything new for our boys, but a relationship you might not expect. It's a bit of an odd one but I'd love to hear what you think of the whole idea, I know similar things have been done before but anyway, I'd like to hear your opinion.

History of the Blood

"A long time ago the world was ruled and watched over by large, mighty dragons. For a long time they were the most powerful race in existence, but like all good things their race eventually came to an end. Knowing their time was approaching the dragon queen and her prince faced the difficult task of deciding which race should succeed them. Eventually they decided that their power should be passed on to the humans, but as the humans were only a relatively young race they also knew their descendants would need guidance and assistance to understand their new power. The dragon queen flew over the world dropping her scales on those beneath her. For each young woman a scale touched a witch was born. Those witches then bred with others and the children born from those unions were also gifted with magic. Through this procreation the race known as the blood was created.

The queen then took on human form and she, along with her prince, who retained his original shape, retired from their duties and settled back to watch over the new guardians of their land from a distance."

Draco stopped speaking and smiled at Harry. "Draca is the dragon queen in human form as I'm sure you already know."

"Yes I do, although I have no idea how I know," Harry replied confused.

"You're one of the queen's chosen, you were born with that knowledge inside you, it just didn't resurface until you were face to face with her," Draco explained.

"So the blood are like us?" Harry asked.

"In a way," Draco replied. "They are the magical guardians of their realm. That's another thing I need to explain, the world we live in is one realm out of three. There's the light realm, which is this one, that used to be known as Terreille. The second realm and the one in which most of the living blood now reside is the shadow realm called Kaeleer. The last realm is the dark realm; which is where the blood go after they die to await the final rest. Having lived with muggles I'm sure you've heard of Hell and Saetan the high lord of hell who looks after all who reside in the realm?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded.

"Well he is real and Hell is as well, it's what the blood call the dark realm. What isn't real is how the muggles portray Saetan as a demon who tortures souls for all eternity. Firstly, from what Draca's told me, Saetan is a man not a demon. She also said he's a kind, intelligent, powerful man who only hurts those who deserve it and takes great care of the souls in his realm. As I said before they don't stay there forever, some don't even go there at all; the souls who go to hell are those who are still powerful enough to exist after their body dies. Eventually their energy is all gone and they leave for their final resting place in the darkness. Souls that use up all their energy before they die go straight to the darkness," Draco continued and Harry nodded.

"So if you were to die fighting a powerful wizard and drained all your magic-"

"You'd just die, that's right," Draco finished Harry's sentence and Harry nodded again.

"So no afterlife?" he asked.

Draco shook his head. "The blood don't believe in the afterlife; they're all for the idea of reincarnation," he replied.

"Well, that's a slightly nicer thought," Harry replied, "Please keep going."

"Okay, let's see. The Blood are matriarchal, that means they're ruled by women. There's no such thing as a king the people are ruled by a queen and the highest rank a male can reach is warlord prince. Like a lot of other worlds the blood have a caste system that determines who's in charge. There are witches and warlords which are normal people, men aren't wizards in their world they're warlords. There are healers and priestesses who are the next female rank; I think they're pretty self-explanatory with regards to their jobs in blood society, although priestesses perform wedding ceremonies and the like, I'm not sure if you'd know that. The next rank up for the males is prince and he's equal to the priestess and the healer. The next step up for males is warlord prince and as I said before that's the highest rank men reach in the blood realm. Women also have a rank known as black widow, they are witches who are experts in poisons and foreseeing the future, they can also heal mental damage, they're the same rank as warlord princes and they have to undergo special training."

Draco stopped and thought about it for a minute. "There's more to tell you about the casts but that can come later. As well as your cast your rank in society is determined by the jewel you wear. Blood children have a birthright ceremony when they're 8 to determine their initial strength and then perform a different ceremony called an offering to the darkness which determines their overall strength. The jewels go from light to dark with the lightest being the white and the darkest being the black and the darker the jewel the stronger the person. There are 13 jewels all together, when you have your birthright ceremony you receive one jewel when you make your offering you receive another. You keep both jewels for the rest of your life and once you die they are returned to where they came from. When you make your offering the jewel you come back with is usually stronger unless something goes wrong. You can descend up to 3 colours darker than your original jewel but some people only descend 1 or 2 depending on the person. Do you have any questions yet?" Draco asked.

"Yeah where do the jewels come from?" Harry asked.

"Most of the blood don't know, but they actually come from the dragon prince, each jewel is one of his scales. Sometimes people are given uncut jewels and those are directly from the prince. Others are already cut and that means they have belonged to someone previously," Draco explained.

Harry nodded. "Okay, so what are the colours?" he asked.

"There's white, yellow, tiger eye, rose, summer-sky, purple dusk, opal (Which can come in a myriad of different colours and can be classed as a light jewel or a dark), green, sapphire, red, grey, ebon-grey and black," Draco explained.

Harry nodded. "Okay keep going."

"The blood live by a code of honour that's quite different from our own. Males serve females as I said before, but there's a subtle balance of power between the sexes that's only noticeable if you live with it. Their laws are quite different, for example murder is not a crime, but if you do murder someone the queen who ruled over that person while they were alive can demand that a penance be exacted. Rape is punishable by death, partially because a witch can be stripped of her power as a result," Draco explained.

"She can?" Harry asked confused.

"It's not that way in our world, I guess maybe it's how the witches in this realm evolved to protect themselves," Draco replied. "In the shadow realm a witches only real weaknesses are sex and their moon time. During the first few says of their moon time they suffer horrible often debilitating pain and aren't able to use their power without causing themselves more pain. As such the men in their family have a tendency to fuss over them, a little too much at times because they are worried about them and get really overprotective, to the point of wanting to kill everyone who comes near them at times."

"That's a little crazy," Harry commented.

"It's a protective mechanism that's bred into blood males' minds. That's the only way strong queens survive as long as they can, the stronger the queen the more pain they're in during their moon time and the harder it is to protect themselves," Draco continued.

"And a moon time is?" Harry asked.

"Put it this way, most women have it once a month," Draco explained and Harry nodded in understanding. "Their other weakness is sex," Draco continued. "Witches become vulnerable when they're in bed with a blood male. They need to be with a partner who they trust completely because fear of any sort at that time of weakness can lead to a witch being broken. They're most vulnerable the first time they do it, and most blood females have a virgin night when they're 16, which is undertaken with an older, trusted, more experienced male who can protect them. As long as they walk away from that night unbroken they're usually fine, although those things are never for sure."

"Wow, it's all very involved isn't it?" Harry asked turning all the information over in his head.

"It is, sorry," Draco said apologetically. "I don't want to overload you with information. There's only really a few more things I have to tell you and the rest you'll pick up over time. My family are also some of Draca's chosen and we have been preparing for our mission since just after I was born. Do you remember how I said I was born early and my father's relatives wanted to kill me?" he asked.

Harry nodded.

"Well, keeping me safe meant leaving France where most of father's relatives live, but my parents couldn't do that until I was stable enough to be moved, and honestly, for a while it looked like I wouldn't survive at all. My father hasn't told me all the details, but apparently one night while he was watching over me, a woman appeared in the room. He won't tell me who she is or where she came from, but he told me that she healed me, completely, to the point where the only issue I had was that I was small and needed to grow. She then told my father to come to England and gave him the location where we are now. When my parents arrived here they met Draca and she built this manor for us out of the stone from the mountain surrounding the property," Draco explained with a smile.

"So this manor wasn't originally in your father's family?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "This manor was built especially for us by the dragon queen herself. It's as big as it is because apparently we won't be the only ones living in it forever. The rest of the Queen's chosen will be living here eventually, not forever but for a while, and she needed to make sure we'd have enough space when the time came. You'll also find that no one knows where the manor is, they have some idea but don't know exactly and that's because Draca has placed an illusion around the property so no one can find it unless she wants them to. To anyone else walking around outside of the grounds it looks like this area is full of mountains."

"Wow," Harry stated impressed.

"The last thing I really need to tell you is about these," Draco said and suddenly a ring appeared on Draco's right pointer and a necklace appeared around his neck. They both held a green jewel which was sparkling and shining with power and Harry was mesmerized by the beauty of them. "These are the jewels I was talking about," Draco explained. "Because our kind hasn't used them for a long time my family and I haven't been given one jewel for a birthright and one for an offering. We all started at a low colour and have been given a darker one as we become stronger and more adept at using jewelled magic. I'm at green at the moment, but I started off with a white when I was 8 and at the end of the holidays I'll hopefully be a sapphire. When we go to see Draca later she'll probably give you your first jewel. You're a bit older and will have the rest of the summer to learn the basics of jewelled magic with me so I don't know what jewel you'll start at. My parents started at the opal level."

"So what are your parents at now?" Harry asked.

"Father's a black, mother's an ebon grey…" he trailed off and Harry studied him concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Harry, there's something else I have to tell you," Draco said looking hesitant and nervous.

"Okay, what is it?" Harry asked, concerned about the look on Draco's face.

"My parents…they're not…um…" Draco trailed off and sighed. "My father and mother were an arranged marriage. They grew up as the best of friends and always knew they were betrothed but…they didn't actually start to love each other until about 6 months before they got married."

"Okay," Harry replied still not understanding where this was going.

"They got married when they were 20 but before that they both…well…fell in love with other people and…those people weren't the kind that either of their families approved of," Draco continued looking uncomfortable and worried although Harry still couldn't understand why. "My parents didn't know what to do; they were only young and knew that if they didn't marry their families would make life difficult for them as well as their lovers, but they didn't want to lose the people they loved so they came up with a plan. Rather than just marrying each other and losing their lovers they looked through as many old books as they could find until they came across an ancient marriage spell created for situations where there were more than two people wishing to marry.

The original plan was for the four of them to marry in secret and then use that marriage as a leverage point to make their families leave their lovers alone. They told both the families that if they ever attacked their lovers they would tell the world about the union which would ultimately spoil the Malfoy and Black names. They made a deal that my mother and father would keep their lovers a secret in exchange for their safety to which all four of them agreed. According to wizarding records my mother and father are married and my mum and dad are married when in actual fact the four of them are all married to each other. My mum you've never met, my dad you have but no one knows he's married at all. They all usually live here, but three of them are with my father's relatives and the other is away, on a mission of sorts, and won't be back until the end of the summer. Okay, so I've told you…are you freaking out?" Draco asked looking quite worried about the answer.

Harry took a moment to absorb what Draco had said before shaking his head. "No, honestly I'm not," he replied and he wasn't. It was definitely a different way to live, but it wasn't his place to judge. Obviously they were happy and that was all that really mattered. There were a couple of things he was curious about though and as Draco relaxed from hearing his words he asked. "There are a few things I'm wondering about though, do you mind if I ask you about them?"

Draco shook his head, "No, go right ahead," he replied amicably.

"You said your parents started to love each other just before they got married?" Harry asked.

Draco smiled. "Yeah, they did. The four of them were friends for quite a while before they had to start thinking about the wedding and dealing with it. By the time they figured out the spell so they could all marry, they realized that they were all actually in love with each other and, not just my mother and father but mum and dad too. So, in the end it all worked out for them," he replied.

"And your mum and dad don't mind that their lovers aren't officially married to them?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "It was hard for them, but they knew it had to be that way. The wizarding world would have been a bit weird about their union if the whole truth was known, plus it kept them all out of danger from the Malfoys and the Blacks," he replied. "In the end it didn't really matter because they love each other anyway."

"Okay," Harry replied with a nod before going on to his last question. "And I have to ask, who was in love with whom initially?"

Draco looked slightly uncomfortable as he went to answer. "Well, my mother was in love with a woman who has fae blood in her. Her name's Arianna Le'Stat and I'll show you a photo of her later. My father…well…okay, you know I'm really good at potions right?" Draco asked and Harry knew straight away where the young Malfoy was going with this line of enquiry.

"So Snape right?" he asked and Draco just nodded not looking at all surprised that Harry had guessed. Harry nodded back; he'd thought he could hear Snape talking to Draco through the floo that day. "And he's with your mother and father right now isn't he?" Harry asked.

"Yeah he is," Draco replied with a nod.

"So where's your mum?" Harry asked.

"She's looking for some friends of ours," Draco replied. "A few weeks ago a family that we're particularly close too disappeared and no one's heard from them since. Have you heard of the Greengrass family?" he asked and Harry nodded. "They're good friends of ours, Astoria, their daughter, has been my best friend since I was really young. They live overseas and we always catch up during the summer holidays, but this year no one can find them. Mum went to find out why, but I haven't heard from her since she left," Draco finished looking worried. "Anyway," he continued brushing his concern aside with obvious effort. "You know the basics about the blood so I think it's time for you to meet Draca, are you ready?"

Harry nodded. He wanted to make sure Draco was all right with his friend missing and his mum being out of touch, but he didn't want to push the boy when it was obviously very difficult for him to think about.

"All right, let's go," Draco said, helping Harry to his feet and taking his hand leading him down the stairs and into the hallway where his work room was. After a few minutes they reached the end of the walkway (Draco was right it was a long way to the end) and Draco opened the door to reveal the biggest library Harry had ever seen outside of Hogwarts. If they weren't on their way to meet Draca he would have made Draco stop so he could properly take in the vast room, but instead he followed the other boy making a note to come back later and have a proper look around.

They walked through the library and through a door at the back of the room. It led to a staircase that descended into a black stone hallway. Torches lit up in front of them as they descended the stairs and made their way through the corridor. It went on for a few minutes before ending with another staircase leading upward. Draco led Harry up the stairs and through the door at the top. The room they entered was an exact replica of the room from Harry's dream and Harry heard himself gasp.

"I saw this room, last night in my dreams," he told Draco who smiled at him.

"Of coursse you did."

They both turned to see Draca approaching them from the staircase at the back of the room.

"Welcome, Harry Potter," she greeted him with a smile before turning her attention to Draco. "Welcome back, young one, it'ss lovely ass alwayss to ssee you."

"It's lovely to see you too, Lady," Draco returned her greeting with a warm smile.

Draca turned back to Harry then. "Draco hass explained a little of our hisstory to you; now you are ready begin your journey ass one of the blood." She held out her hands and in them was a ring and a necklace, both simple designs that wouldn't draw too much attention but still looked lovely. "Thesse will be yours until you have learnt ssome of our craft and are ready for a sstronger jewell. They are Ssummer ssky and will sserve you well until the time comess for you to descend."

Harry hesitantly took the jewels from her, feeling the power emanating from them wrap around and through him, filling him with its essence. It felt amazing and he did not hesitate to put them on. "Thank you, Lady, for the trust you have shown in me. I swear by all that I am that I will use these with honour and courage."

Harry had no idea where those words had come from but they felt right.

Draca smiled once more. "I have no doubt you will young prince," she replied, pride shining in her eyes. She turned back to Draco then and said, "I will entrusst his insstruction to you, young prince, I have no doubt you will excel in thiss tassk."

"I will strive to do so, Lady," Draco replied humbly, but obviously pleased with the trust she was showing in him.

"I will leave you to enjoy the resst of your day. Farewell for now, feel free to come and vissit uss any time," Draca bid them goodbye and they both bowed slightly before turning and heading back to the stairs.

The trip back to the house was taken in silence, as soon as they were back inside the Malfoy library Draco pulled Harry into his arms and held him tightly. "She gifted you with Summer Sky, already, Harry this is amazing!" He gushed.

Harry hugged the other boy back, smiling along with him. A happy Draco was such a beautiful site.

"So we've got the rest of today to relax and tomorrow we start your training. Oh, I should warn you, you might start to notice little changes in yourself over the next few months," Draco told him.

"Changes?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded. "They won't come on too suddenly, but your caste is going to start shining through in your personality and the blood code of honour will start coming out in how you think and feel. Don't panic, it's not going to just be there one day it'll come on gradually, but it might be a bit weird until you get used to it." Draco pulled back just enough so he could look into Harry's eyes adoringly. "And remember, I will be here with you every minute, okay, any weird thoughts, feelings, anything at all, don't be afraid to ask me. Believe me, chances are I've experienced the same thing myself on several occasions." He gazed down at Harry for another few moments, his lovely, gunmetal eyes filled with caring, adoration and another emotion Harry wasn't sure he was ready to name just yet. "You have no idea how happy I am," Draco said softly before leaning forward to kiss him.

XX

They spent the afternoon relaxing knowing they were going to be busy for the rest of the holidays. Surprisingly, Harry found he was not at all bothered by the idea that his holidays weren't going to involve just lazing around like most people's did. He'd spent every year previously at the Dursley's bored out of his mind, counting down the days until he could return to Hogwarts and practicing magic he'd either already learnt, or was going to learn the following year, to pass the time and keep him sane.

This year however, not only had he escaped the Dursleys, he'd found something amazing in his new relationship with Draco and every day had been, and would continue to be, a learning experience for him. He knew the rest of the summer was going to be amazing and he couldn't wait for Draco to start teaching him everything the young Malfoy could.

Draco showed Harry around the library, giving him all the time he wanted to read about his family history. Then he'd taken Harry to the area where the family kept all their photo albums so he could show Harry what his mum looked like. To say she was beautiful would have been the understatement of the century. She had long, flowing, brown hair and lavender eyes that sparkled with warmth. In the picture Draco showed him first she was quite young and cuddled up with Narcissa on a lounge while the pair giggled at something they were reading in Witch's Weekly.

He felt himself smile as Narcissa turned Arianna's face toward her and tenderly brushed the brunette's hair back from her face, revealing a delicately pointed ear, before kissing her softly. Harry couldn't get over how sweet it was, however that thought was overtaken when he saw the photo on the next page.

He looked on in shock as Severus, looking about the same age as Harry was now, sat at a desk brewing what appeared to be a very difficult and detailed potion. His long, black hair had fallen forward and even though Harry knew it was only a photo, he nearly called out to the boy when the black strands almost touched the flame burning beneath the cauldron. Before he could singe the edges however, two hands appeared from behind the boy and gently pulled the black locks back behind his neck. Harry watched as a young Lucius came into view bending down to whisper in Severus' ear.

Harry almost fell over when he saw Severus smile and lean back from the potion slightly before turning his face to look up adoringly at Lucius. Lucius smiled loving back at him and leant forward to kiss the other boy softly.

They were both such simple moments of affection, but they felt so intimate that Harry almost felt like he was intruding on their privacy just watching them. He turned the page and the next photo was a group shot of all four of them together. They seemed to be playing around and having a good time which made Harry chuckle. The next one was another group photo showing the four of them lying out on a blanket under the sun. Lucius was lying on his school bag with his eyes closed, Severus was lying on his back with his head on Lucius stomach reading what appeared to be a potions text. Narcissa was lying on her side, with her head on Severus' stomach and her eyes also closed while Arianna lay on her back with her head on Narcissa's side reading what appeared to a herbology text.

It was cute; they all looked so comfortable together.

As he was about to turn the page again Draco came to his side with a different album and handed it to Harry, already open to a page he wanted Harry to see. Harry took the album and the photo Draco had opened it to made him smile. It was a family portrait of the four parents with Draco when he was about five. They smiled and posed beautifully as the flash went off but as soon as it was done he saw Lucius lift Draco into his arms with a brilliant smile and kiss him on the forehead before cuddling him close. He could see Lucius mouth moving and while he couldn't hear what the man was saying he was pretty sure it was words of praise for the young boy, most likely for posing so well for the photo. Harry saw little Draco smile brightly before cuddling into his father's robes.

The next page had a photo of Lucius and Narcissa dancing around a ball room, all dressed up and clearly having a marvellous time. The following page had a photo of Draco, snuggled up between Arianna and Severus, on a bed even larger than Draco's current continent sized marvel. The pair were reading the young Malfoy a story while he watched them with a content, sleepy expression.

It was then that Harry realized what those two pictures were really meant to show. Lucius and Narcissa may have been Draco's recognized parents and the couple that attended all the parties in the Malfoy name, but Arianna and Severus, while having to stay in the shadows, got to spend a lot more time with their son.

When Harry turned the page it was to see Narcissa and Lucius, seemingly arriving home after the party, climbing onto the bed beside their lovers. Severus and Arianna were still snuggled up on either side of Draco, the three of them appearing to be sleeping soundly. Lucius and Narcissa kissed Draco before lying down beside their lovers, a hand each resting on their son to keep contact with him. It was then that Harry really understood that it wasn't just Arianna and Severus who had had to make sacrifices for their marriage. How much time had Lucius and Narcissa missed with Draco because they were out playing the part that society expected of them?

Given the choice himself Harry would have chosen the role Severus had taken over that of Lucius'. Considering how much Draco said the older Malfoy loved his son it must have hurt to spend so much time away from him; Merlin only knew how much it had pained Narcissa.

A few pages on he came across what appeared to be a more recent photo of Draco with all four of his parents out in their garden. If he had to guess he would have said Draco was maybe a year younger than he was now and…hang on a minute.

"Um, Draco," he called to the other boy who was back at the book case putting the other photo album away.

"Yeah," the blonde replied turning back to face him.

"This photo is just a recent one right?" he asked.

Draco walked over and looked down at the photo Harry was currently studying. "Um yeah, last year, why?" he asked sounding confused by Harry's question.

"How come your parents barely look any older than they do in those earlier photos then?" Harry asked feeling insanely confused. His confusion grew when Draco started laughing.

"Oh, that's right, I had almost forgotten," the blonde began as soon as he'd managed to stop laughing. "At the end of my third year I was in my work room working on a potion I'd found in one of the Hogwarts tomes and had been dying to try. It was supposed to be able to temporarily reverse your age and I thought it'd be a giggle to see my parents as they looked when they were teenagers, in person rather than just in photos.

I hadn't told my parents what I was working on, wanting it to be a surprise. Unfortunately, my parents are insanely curious people and couldn't wait until I was done to find out what I was doing. Instead they sneaked into the room, sight shielded, which I'll explain later, and crowded around my cauldron to see what I was making. My mother got a little too close as I was adding the last ingredient and knocked my hand, forcing me to add a lot more than I was supposed to, much like the other night when you came in, and just like that that night the potion exploded only there was no warning with this one. I, being the cautious person I am, had already shielded myself in case the potion accidentally spilled on me while I was making it, I didn't fancy spending the several days after as an infant. My parents on the other hand hadn't, and the potion didn't give them time to correct that oversight before it covered the room, and them, in bright pink goo.

Sufficed to say the potion worked, thanks to the overabundance of the potions last ingredient however, the effects weren't temporary. Physically my parents are now only about ten years older than I am," Draco finished with an amused expression.

Harry stared at the other boy for a moment taking in everything he'd just said and computing it. When at last he'd visualised the entire thing he did the only thing he could think of. He laughed…a lot.

Draco joined him and when at last the pair had gotten themselves under control Harry asked. "So are they going to be that age forever?"

Draco shook his head still grinning. "No, they still age like they're supposed to, it's just like their clock was turned back a little and they've started off at an earlier point. They didn't lose any memories or anything, they didn't get any less mature, they're just physically younger," Draco explained.

"And how did they handle that?" Harry asked curiously.

"They banned me from making any potions unsupervised for the rest of the holidays and my father had the Tome I found it in removed from Hogwarts so nobody else could stumble across it. In the end though they really couldn't be too mad at me, I mean, them being younger just means living longer and having more time together and with me. My father thought about making me spend the entire summer at the manor and not letting me go out, but then he remembered that I'd rather spend my holidays at home with him and my other parents than go out anyway so that would have been a waste of time," Draco finished with a small smirk.

"They all look so different," Harry commented studying the photo once more. "I mean, Snape, in particular looks a lot less…um…scary," he finished not wanting to insult the boy by saying his dad looked a lot more attractive now.

The look in Draco's eyes told Harry the ice prince knew what he really meant but he wasn't offended at all. "I know, he looks a lot better doesn't he, they all do. The last wizarding war really took a toll on my parents, Harry, all the fighting, the stress and the insanely large amount of energy they expended trying to keep themselves and each other safe from Voldamort and the rest of the Malfoy and Black families…it really aged them, badly. Before all of that happened my dad was…he was a very different person, and not just in appearance," the blonde explained looking slightly sad.

"Your mother was his closest friend outside of my other parents, did you know that?" Draco asked and Harry shook his head, he'd never known that. Draco nodded gravely. "Your father and the rest of his friends hated my dad; they used to spend all their time teasing and tormenting him until he met my father. His home life wasn't very nice either, his father was abusive and his mother wasn't much better. He met your mother one day after his father had beaten him and thrown him out of the house for breaking a dish. He found her out in a park with your Aunt who was teasing her about being a freak," Draco explained, the last word dripping with venom.

He sighed and seemed to reign in his temper before he continued. "They became friends after that and they continued to be friends until their teenage years when they had a big fight one day and dad said something he didn't mean. After that Lilly refused to speak to him, no matter how many times he apologised. It hurt him a great deal and I think it still does sometimes if he thinks about it. When your mother died…" Draco trailed off shaking his head. "I'm sorry you probably don't want to hear about this," he said looking up at Harry apologetically.

Harry shook his head, "No, it's okay," he reassured the other boy. "In a lot of ways it explains why Snape hates me so much and…well… I might sound pathetic saying so, but, it's nice to know he doesn't just hate me, you know, it's always bothered me and I've always wondered why. This explains it," he finished looking down at his hands.

Draco nodded. "He hated your father and he cared so much about your mother, her death nearly destroyed him and I think it would have if he hadn't had us," he said with a sad smile.

The mood was getting far too depressing and Harry decided to change the subject. "So, if your parents were hit with that potion why does Snape still look the same as he used to?" he asked.

"They all wear glamours when they're out in public," Draco explained. "That's something I'll explain to you a bit more later. I can see through the glamours and so can they, but the rest of the world can't. My parents didn't want to have to explain what happened to the ministry in case I got into trouble for the potion. When they're at home though, they walk around without the glamours and put them back if anyone comes to visit. It took me a bit of getting used to but eventually I did," Draco finished with a smile.

Harry smiled back, glad the other boy didn't look so sad anymore. "So, how do you want to spend our last day of freedom?" he asked the blonde.

Draco looked deep in thought for a moment before grinning evilly. 'Well, there was this potion I wanted to try," he suggested slyly causing Harry to laugh.

XX

That afternoon, as they sat out in the garden watching the sunse,t Harry looked down at his now waist length hair and grinned. Well, it could have been worse; Draco's was just as long and looked damn hot!

"Hey, Draco," he called to the other boy softly.

"Hmm," Draco replied, still watching the sunset.

"Don't cut your hair okay."

Draco was quiet for a moment before replying, "Okay," in an amused voice.

XX

So what did we think? Please review, I hope you enjoyed it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I have to explain as I don't think I did at the start. This is set at the end of fifth/start of sixth year. Voldamort hasn't returned although his death eaters have been sniffing around making life hard for Harry. The triwizard tornament happened, but in fifth year, and the ending was different, Harry and Cedric got the cup together and the Hufflepuff is still alive. Umbridge wasn't there in the fifth year but will make an appearance this year instead. Sirius is still alive as the battle at the department of mysteries didn't happen and He and Remus are together. Hermione has a younger brother but is still the only magical one in the family. Her parents aren't loving and kind like they are in the books, they are more like Petunia and Vernon and hate magic and they make her life very unpleasant. The twins still left Hogwarts and still started their shop as normal and I think that's it for now
> 
> Anyway here we go, enjoy.

Late Night Visitations

The next few weeks flew by for Harry. The mornings all started with either himself or Draco waking the other with a kiss before Elsie brought them breakfast in bed. The morning was spent teaching Harry how to use his jewels and Draco was an excellent teacher. Lunch was always out in the garden, then the boys would spend a few hours talking about blood history and the code of honour before learning a new spell, or practicing one they'd already learnt but needed more time to perfect, whether it be jewelled magic or wand magic. Harry liked those times, because when they were practicing wand magic he occasionally got a chance to teach Draco or help him learn something. They'd watch the sunset before heading in for dinner, which they usually ate at the table by candlelight and discussed any questions they had about what they'd learnt that day.

The evenings were spent reading so Draco wouldn't get behind in his own study, which was more advanced than what Harry was learning at the moment. Sometimes Draco read out loud if he thought the topic would either interest or be of use to Harry. Other times Harry either read over the things they'd learnt that day or read about what he'd be learning the following day. Finally they'd switch out the lights and snuggle up together in bed, drifting off to sleep in each other's arms.

It was a lovely routine and Harry enjoyed every minute of it, he'd never had so much fun learning things in his life.

The routine was interrupted unexpectedly one night when Harry awoke to the sound of Draco's bedroom door slowly creaking open. Draco's arms were wrapped around him so Harry knew it wasn't him and Elsie would have just popped into the room if she wanted Draco for some reason. Harry had lost his wand the night he was attacked and hadn't had a chance to get a new one so he focused his energy on creating a shield around himself and Draco while he thought about what he should do.

As soon as the shield snapped into place he heard the footsteps pause, a curious thing in itself since Draco had taught him that only those who wore jewels could feel a shield being created.

Draco had been teaching Harry to recognise others with the use of psychic probes, something the jewelled blood used quite often to ascertain who someone was, what their cast was, what jewel they wore and what their intentions were. The person being scanned could block their thoughts with the use of the their own jewel, however, much like Legilimency, if the person scanning was stronger and better trained than the person being scanned they could break through those mental shields and cause the person a great amount of mental damage if they chose to.

An initial scan however didn't hurt the other person, they would be aware of being scanned but it would cause them no harm and being as Harry was so new to the blood and their casts it was the easiest way to determine what rank and caste a person was as well as whether they meant him harm. The person being scanned could decide if they wanted to be open about their intentions or hide them, they could also use the psychic probe to open up a line of communication between themselves and the person scanning them or simply create one of their own.

Having been on the receiving end of Severus' training in Legilimency the blood's psychic abilities had come to him with a little more ease than it would to someone who'd had no previous psychic training and while he wasn't anywhere near as good as Draco yet, he could perform an initial assessment of someone with relative ease. He did so now, reaching out to the currently unknown mind.

Witch … jewel stronger than his but not by much … young … no hostile intent, but wariness and caution.

"Who are you?" the female voice came into his head and Harry felt her scanning him in return.

"You're the one entering my bedroom, perhaps you should be the first to answer that question," Harry returned her question.

He felt her pause before anger filled the link between them. "This room is Draco's not yours," the voice snarled.

"Which Draco has invited me into willingly," Harry responded, "I'm not sure if the same applies to you, so I ask again, who are you?"

He felt her pause once more and her attention turned to Draco who was still sleeping soundly beside him. He felt her scan the sleeping Malfoy before her attention returned to Harry and she grudgingly replied, "Astoria Greengrass."

Draco's best friend. No wonder she was so wary of Harry, she'd been looking out for her friend. "Oh, I apologise then, I'm Harry. We should wake up Draco, he's been worried sick about you," he replied.

"Watch your eyes," Astoria directed a few moments before a ball of witch light appeared illuminating the room. Witch light was another thing Draco had taught Harry quite early on. It was a glowing ball of energy that took very little magic to create and could be used to light an area for as long as the caster needed. It could be made larger to suit the size of the space it was lighting or made to shine longer with very little magic. It was a good deal more efficient than candle light in that it could be made to hover wherever the caster wanted, meaning if you were reading a book the light could be made just big enough to illuminate the page and made to hover right above the book so there was no shadow. Harry loved it.

The ball Astoria conjured went sailing up to the ceiling and when Harry's eyes finally adjusted he got his first proper look at the young girl. She was medium height with a slight build, chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes. Harry returned his attention to her face just in time to see her finishing a similar scan of him and bring her own gaze back to his.

"You're Harry Potter aren't you?" she asked, her gaze traveling to his scar.

Harry nodded cautiously and Astoria studied him for a moment before asking, "How long has this been going on?" and flicking her gaze to the sleeping Malfoy.

"A couple of weeks," Harry replied.

Astoria nodded and opened her mouth to speak again only to close it when Draco stirred. She approached the bed and knelt down so she was close to the ice prince. "Draco," she said his name softly.

"Storia?" the blonde mumbled, his gunmetal eyes sliding open to look up at the girl.

"Yeah, it's me," she replied and Harry saw tears starting to sparkle in her lovely, hazel eyes.

Draco's brow furrowed and for several moments he just looked at her as if he wasn't sure who she was. Then, as if a spell had hit him, his eyes widened in shock and he sat up in bed reaching out to pull her into his arms. "Astoria, mother night you're here, you're okay," he said the relief evident in his voice.

"Dray…Dray I…" Astoria trailed off her body trembling as she held him back. "I'm so glad to see you, I've missed you so much," she said and Harry could hear the start of tears in her voice. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

"Where have you been?" Draco asked not letting her go. "We've been so worried about you; my mum's been looking for your family since the start of the summer."

"We were on the run," Astoria replied. "The Aurors, they were after us and we had to get away."

"Why?" Draco asked, "What happened?"

Astoria took a deep, shaky breath, most likely to compose herself before she replied. "My father was on a mission for the ministry a few weeks ago and he saw a group of Aurors kill an innocent wizard. He didn't know if they'd seen him, but he apparated back home as quickly as he could, knowing that if they had they'd come after us. As soon as he got back he grabbed mother and I and took us away to one of the safe houses his family created years ago. An hour after we left the house was raided, they destroyed everything we owned and when they couldn't find us anywhere they burnt our house to the ground," Astoria explained tearfully. "All we managed to save were a few books and photos, a family heirloom or two, everything else is gone," she finished.

Pulling back from the young girl Draco pulled her over to sit on the bed before calling in a bottle of soothing tonic and a glass. He poured a glass of the tonic for the still trembling girl and handed it to her before calling in a blanket and throwing it around her shoulders.

"I'll be back in a minute okay," the young Malfoy informed her before kissing her forehead and slipping out of the room. Astoria nodded, sipping her drink silently as tears slipped from her eyes.

Harry felt awful for the poor, young girl. She and her family had lost everything and from the looks of it she'd had to come all the way here, from wherever she'd been, on her own. She must have been terrified.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

Astoria nodded as more tears ran down her cheeks. After a few seconds of silence her gaze moved to Harry's and she just looked at him for several moments before she seemed to change her mind and shook her head instead.

He gave her an understanding smile and crawled over to sit beside her before holding out an arm in invitation. Those hazel eyes studied him closely once more and just when he was about to lower his arm she slid closer to his side and leant into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He held her tightly to his side running a soothing hand up and down her arm.

"You have a soothing presence, Harry," she said softly and not being quite sure how to respond to that Harry thanked her.

Draco re-entered the room a few moments later and Harry saw the young Slytherin appraise their position on the bed before moving to Astoria's other side and dropping gracefully down beside her.

"Elsie's cleaning your room out for you," the young Malfoy told her softly as he slipped an arm around her and leant his cheek against hers.

"Thank you," she replied softly, her hand reaching out to grasp his free one. "We wanted to contact you," Astoria whispered after a few moments of silence. "We wanted to send word to you about what had happened, but we didn't want anyone to come after your family because of us. We stayed hidden until your mum found us yesterday."

"She did find you?" Draco asked perking up slightly. "Was she all right?"

Astoria nodded. "Yeah, she was fine," she reassured the blonde. "She gave me a portkey and sent me here to spend the rest of the summer with you since you were alone…" she trailed off and her gaze moved to Harry for a moment. "Although I guess you're not," she said with a small smile. "I wanted to stay with my parents but they told me to go, they said that if I wasn't with them they'd be able to hunt the Aurors that were after us and stop them so we'd be safe again," Astoria continued sadly. "I didn't want to leave, but I understand why they wanted me to go. They wanted to protect me and I'd only be in the way right now. You mum is going to stay and help them, that makes me feel a bit better but … I'm sorry, Dray, it means she's in danger now too," the girl finished looking guilty.

"It's not your fault," Draco reassured the brunette. "They're all very clever, powerful, resourceful people, I'm sure they'll be fine," he reassured her

She nodded looking down at her hands. "I know," she replied.

"Do you want to go to bed? Elsie should be done by now," Draco asked.

Astoria nodded, but Harry could sense hesitation in her. She was obviously scared and probably didn't want to be on her own.

"Or you can stay in here with us, I mean the bed's definitely big enough and already warm," Harry offered.

Two sets of surprised eyes turned to look at him before Astoria's changed to a grateful expression. "Are you sure?" she asked, although Harry could tell she was just being polite, "I don't want to intrude."

"It's fine," Harry reassured her, "As long as Draco doesn't mind of course," he finished looking over at the blonde questioningly.

Draco was still looking at him in surprise, but he quickly shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all," he replied with a smile. "Would you like to have a shower before you go to bed?" he offered the girl.

"It'd be nice, if you don't mind?" she asked.

He shook his head once more. "No, it's fine, I'll have Elsie bring in some of your clothes and you know where the towels are," he replied motioning to his bathroom doorway. Astoria thanked him before slipping off the bed and heading for the bathroom.

Once she was in the other room with the door shut Draco asked Elsie to take the things Astoria needed in to her before turning worried eyes to Harry.

"Harry, are you sure you're going to be all right with this? I mean, I know she's a girl, but you haven't had anyone except me near you since…that night and-"

Harry cut the blonde off with a gentle kiss before pulling away with a smile. "I'm not going to lie, this is going to be exceptionally weird for me and I'm not overly fond of the idea of sharing you, or our bed, with anyone," he admitted. "But Astoria needs you right now. She's alone and she's scared and you should be there for her. I'll live, don't worry about me all right," he reassured the blonde kissing him once more.

"All right," Draco agreed after they parted. "But if it gets too weird for you let me know, okay," he instructed.

Harry nodded, "Okay," he acquiesced.

Draco nodded once more before a small smile appeared on his face.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You do realized that you just called this our bed don't you?" Draco asked his smile widening.

Harry thought back over what he'd just said before realizing that Draco was right. He felt himself blush profusely and hid his face in his hands, feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet.

"Oh, Merlin!" he groaned in embarrassment.

He heard Draco chuckle before the blonde's arms slipped around him, pulling him close to the Slytherin's perfect body. "There's no need to be embarrassed, love," he assured Harry pulling at his hands until he moved them from in front of his face. He then took Harry's face in his own hands and tilted it up so Harry was looking at him. "I like that description, it's quite apt," he whispered, gazing at Harry adoringly.

Harry gazed back at him, feeling himself being drawn into the gunmetal depths of Draco's beautiful eyes. He slipped his hands up to grasp the Slytherin's shirt and whispered, "Draco."

"Hmm," the blonde replied quietly.

"Kiss me."

Draco brought his lips down to Harry's and kissed him with a slow sensuality that made Harry's heart race and filled him with a longing he'd never felt before. He'd kissed Draco several times over the last few weeks, but his body had never reacted the way it was at that moment. Draco's kisses usually made him feel calm, safe, loved, this one made Harry crave the feeling of the Slytherin's hands on his body.

He almost groaned in annoyance when Draco pulled back and pressed his face against Harry's, breathing heavily. "Draco," Harry whispered breathlessly. "I felt-"

"I know; I sensed it" the Malfoy whispered in reply. ""We need to talk about this when we have some time alone, all right?" he asked.

Harry nodded, tightening his grip on Draco's shirt. "All right," he agreed, suddenly quite annoyed with himself that he'd made Astoria the offer to stay with them. He took a few deep breaths before pulling away from the blonde and moving over to the other side of the bed. Right now he needed some distance to give his body a chance to calm down.

"Harry," Draco said his name quietly and Harry could hear the worry in his tone.

"It's okay," he reassured the blonde quietly, "Nothing's wrong, I just need a little distance at the moment," he explained with a reassuring smile.

The look on Draco's face told him the Slytherin didn't believe him. "Harry-"

He was interrupted by Astoria's return from the bathroom. "I feel better now," the girl said with a sigh. She headed over to the bed, not mentioning if she noticed anything off about the mood in the room or the boys' positions on the bed. "Um, where do you want me to sleep?" she asked hesitantly.

Harry gave the girl a reassuring smile. "Why don't you climb in on the other side of Draco," he suggested. "I'm just going to grab some water and I'll be back," he said slipping off the bed and heading toward the door. He couldn't climb into bed with Draco and Astoria right now, he was feeling too wound up.

"Is everything okay?" Astoria asked worriedly. "If my being here bothers you I can go to the other room," she offered.

Harry shook his head, "No, it's fine. You're not a bother of any sort, honestly, I just need some water. I'll be back up soon all right," he reassured the girl before heading out into the hallway and making his way down to the kitchen. He found a glass and filled it with water, taking a long drink and swallowing before closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths. He'd never reacted like that to anyone or anything in his life. Was it a sign that he was healing from the horrible assault he'd endured or was it something different entirely? He stood there mulling over it for several minutes before deciding he wasn't going to come up with any answers until he'd had a chance to speak to Draco the following morning.

Finishing the glass Harry left it on the sink and headed out of the kitchen intent on going back to bed now that his body had calmed down. Halfway to the stairs however, Harry realised that he was quite awake after all of his musing and therefore going to bed was probably pointless. He decided he'd take a walk to clear his head and headed toward the manor's front door.

He grabbed his cloak which was hanging on a hook in the foyer, threw it on and opened the door, heading outside into the cool night air. He wandered around the yard for a while, enjoying the serenity of the evening and marvelling at how beautiful the grounds looked in the moonlight. After a few minutes he reached the swinging chairs and sat down on the one closest to the manor wondering if there was anything constructive he could to with his time while he was enjoying the evening.

Inspiration suddenly hit him and he called in a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill along with a lap desk Draco kept in his room. He could occupy his time writing a letter to Sirius. He couldn't tell him what he was doing or where he was, but as least it would give him something to do for a while.

He studied the lap desk as it appeared in his hands. Outside of creating balls of witchlight having the ability to call in items was the most useful skill he'd learnt during his training with the jewels. Like Accio you could bring items to you, but unlike accio the item didn't just fly into you after finding a path through all the obstacles in between it and you. The jewels could store items for you and how much they could store depended on how dark our jewel was. If you wanted you could store things in your jewels and call them in when you needed them, otherwise you could vanish an item into your jewel and then call it to you. It was a lot easier and didn't involve the impact accio caused.

By the time he'd finished the letter he was still quite awake so he decided to write a letter to Remus as well. He thought about writing to Ron but the other boy wouldn't be able to reply anyway as he didn't know where Harry was and Romania was too far to send Hedwig, the poor bird would die. He wished he could write to Hermione, as he knew the poor girl would be as miserable over the summer as Harry normally was, but knew he couldn't. Last time Hedwig had been anywhere near the house Hermione's little brother had shot at her with a shanghai, and if by some miracle Hermione had managed to convince her parents to send her to Summer school for the holidays as she'd wanted, an owl turning up with a letter for her would only raise suspicion with the other students in the class.

He was sad for Hermione, her home life was barely any better than Harry's. Her parents barely looked at her, but doted like crazy over her bastard of a younger brother while emotionally abusing Hermione every chance they got. If Harry could he would take her away from them, but he doubted Draco would agree to that, he'd never particularly liked the girl and they'd more than likely just grate on each other.

He wondered how this was all going to go when they got back to school. Would he be able to tell his friends about Draco or would it be better to keep it to himself?

He brushed that thought aside, he'd have to talk to Draco before he made any decisions and it was far too late at night to be pondering over such things anyway. He finished his letter to Remus, adding a note at the bottom that Hedwig would come back his way in a day and for the other man to give his reply directly to her so Harry would definitely get it. He then whistled to call the owl to him and she soared down in a graceful flap of snow white wings, landing on his outstretched arm.

He pet her feathers a couple of times before holding up the letters. "This one has to go to Remus," he told her holding up Remus' letter, "And this one to Sirius," he instructed holding up the other. "Take Remus' letter to him first before continuing on to Sirius. Wait for a reply from Sirius then head back to Remus so he can give you his reply. Come home after that, okay. Do you understand?" he asked.

Hedwig gave him a hoot of understanding before allowing Harry to tie the letters onto her legs. When he was done she leant into his hand for one last pat before taking flight in the direction of Remus' house. Harry watched her go for a moment before vanishing the writing supplies and heading back inside to try and get some sleep.

On his way up to the bedroom his thoughts drifted to Sirius and Remus. With Sirius being on the most wanted list they barely got a chance to spend any time together. Harry could only imagine how hard it was for them, particularly as it hadn't been all that long since Sirius escaped Azkaban and they'd spent years apart while he was in there. The pair were sickeningly in love, and it hurt Harry to think that they couldn't be together. They both told him they were fine but…

He reached the bedroom and opened the door just enough to slip inside. As he closed it behind him he noticed a small ball of witchlight floating above the bed and illuminating its occupants. Draco was lying on his back with one arm holding Astoria to his side and the other gently stroking her hair. The girl herself appeared to be asleep.

Harry squashed the small surge of jealousy he felt at seeing them lying together like that; reminding himself of all the times he'd snuggled up next to Hermione on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. It hadn't meant anything, they were just friends and Draco and Astoria were no different.

"Hey," the blonde boy greeted him softly as he neared the bed.

"Hey," Harry greeted back vanishing his cloak that he hadn't noticed he was still wearing until then.

"Are you okay?" the young Malfoy asked and Harry could hear the concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as Draco pulled back the covers in invitation. "Were you waiting up for me? You didn't have to," he asked slipping in beside the Slytherin.

"I was worried," Draco replied as Harry scooted over to him. "I would have come out but you needed to be alone, I could sense that. I was keeping an eye on you though, through the jewel, monitoring your moods to make sure you were okay. You had some interesting ones in there, a lot of sadness and worry, are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

Harry smiled at the obvious concern on his boyfriend's face and leant up to kiss Draco softly on the cheek. "I'm fine," he replied with a soft smile settling down beside the other boy. Astoria had her head on Draco's other shoulder and her hand resting on his chest so Harry settled himself on the other side of Draco's chest, wrapping his arm around the blonde's waist instead. "Good night, walking, talking, Slytherin pillow," he said with a grin.

Draco chuckled slightly. "Goodnight beautiful," he replied kissing Harry's hair and holding him close. It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep.

XX

Harry and Draco awoke at their usual time the following morning and moved quietly through their morning ritual so as not to wake Astoria before heading out of the room to begin their day. They were out under Harry's favourite tree, feeding each other breakfast, picnic style, when Astoria emerged from inside the house and headed toward them. Harry had just managed to get syrup on Draco's nose and the two were chuckling about the messiness of feeding another person while Draco spelled the syrup away with his wand.

"It is weird using wand magic when you have your jewels?" Harry asked.

"A little, I spend so much time while I'm on holidays using my jewels and learning new jewelled spells because it's the only time I really can without arousing suspicion. Then I go back to Hogwarts and have to go back to only using my wand, it's a little odd. When I was younger my parents would make sure I started revising my wand magic from the previous year, or learning new wand spells, a fortnight before we went back so I was comfortable using it again. I won't lie; you're probably going to find it really hard when we go back. The only thing I can suggest is doing what I used to do, no jewelled magic for the last little while before going back to school. Thankfully we have a little while before that day arrives," Draco replied cleaning away the rest of the syrup.

The blood didn't have a cleaning spell as efficient as those used in Harry's world, not for a person anyway, which was why Draco was spelling away the syrup with his wand. Harry asked why they'd never created one, but Draco had just shrugged and said he guessed it just hadn't been particularly high on their list of priorities and Harry had to agree with him; there were definitely more important things to invent spells for. Harry however was definitely grateful that the wizards of this world had thought to invent one; it had come in quite handy for Harry and his friends over the years.

The pair looked round when they felt Astoria's energy approaching and smiled in greeting.

"Morning, Astoria," the pair greeted brightly in tandem.

This made her pause and study them with a mixture of curiosity and caution, "That's more than a little freaky you know," she told them, causing the pair to chuckle before Harry invited her to join them.

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude," she asked.

"It's not like we're doing anything you'd be intruding on," Draco replied. "We've already worked out that breakfast isn't the best meal to feed to each other."

"And if we hadn't we could just as easily have covered you in syrup," Harry added with a chuckle bring answering chuckles from Draco and Astoria.

The brunette sat down across from the pair and Draco invited her to help herself to some of the food the house elves had laid out. There were pancakes with maple syrup, fresh fruit, toast, scones and several different types of jam. There was also tea and coffee as well as several varieties of juice. Astoria grabbed a couple of scones with apricot jam and some coffee before settling down on the rug to enjoy it.

The rest of breakfast was taken in silence as each teen sat on the rug, seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Harry pondered what the next few weeks may hold now that there were three of them in the house and wondered if the other two were thinking the same.

When they were done eating Astoria spoke, breaking the silence. "So, I see you've joined our ranks," she stated, her gaze wandering to the summer sky jewel hanging around Harry's neck. "I have to admit I was wondering when Draca would introduce us to some more of her chosen," Astoria continued. "How long have you been one of us?"

"Only a couple of weeks, so it's all still quite new to me," he replied. "Which jewel are you up to now?

"Opal," she replied calling in her jewels for Harry to see.

"They're lovely," he complimented and she thanked him quietly.

"So, Harry Potter, I have to admit I never thought I'd get a chance to meet you. What's it like being the saviour of the wizarding world? Do you like being the hero or does it drive you a little bonkers?" She asked

"Actually it sucks," he replied, being brutally honest with how he felt about the whole thing for the first time in his life. "I honestly hate all of the attention I get, but there's nothing I can do to stop it, people just ignore me when I ask them not to be like that."

Harry sighed, "So many people want to be famous, but none of them realise what fickle thing fame is. I'm not just everyone's hero, I'm also everyone's scapegoat, and whenever something goes wrong they immediately look at me as if I'm the cause. Honestly, I don't know which of the two is worse; the expectation that I'll save everyone if Voldamort ever rises again, or the constant suspicion that I'm the god damned antichrist." Harry stopped then, suddenly realising he was whining about this to a complete stranger who he was positive didn't want to hear it. Still, she had asked the question and she was one of Draca's chosen, she deserved the truth.

Astoria gave him a sad smile, "Yeah, I never imagined a life like that would be easy. How do you keep yourself sane with all of the constant attention?" she asked.

"I have a couple of really good friends who I can always count on, which really helps, and honestly, Draco had been a big help over the years too," Harry replied honestly.

"I have?" Draco asked surprised and Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the confusion on the blonde's lovely face.

"Yes, actually you have," he replied. "I mean, I know we never got along and spent most of our time sniping at each other, but at least I always knew where I stood with you. You didn't pretend to be my friend one minute just to turn around and hate me the next. We had a consistent, antagonistic relationship, and as weird as it sounds for me to say, consistency is something I really need in my life to keep me grounded; whether that consistency is positive or not."

Draco studied him for a moment before asking, "Are you a masochist, Potter?"

Harry laughed, "No, I much prefer the relationship we have now and there's absolutely nothing masochistic about it," he replied leaning forward to give the ice prince a chaste kiss.

"So do I," Draco replied when Harry pulled back, his lovely, gunmetal eyes shining with so much sincerity that Harry just had to kiss him again.

"Awww, now you two are just plain sickening," Astoria interjected causing Harry and Draco to laugh. "I'm sorry I crashed your holidays, I imagine you were probably planning to spend them together and I've just spoilt the whole thing," she said apologetically.

"Oh no, it's fine," Harry replied. "We've had plenty of time together over the last couple of weeks, not many couples get that when they're first starting out. Besides, it'll be nice to have a chance to get to know Draco's best friend," he finished with a smile.

Astoria returned his smile, "Well, in that case." she raised her coffee cup in salute, "To an enjoyable rest of the summer."

"Hear, hear," Harry and Draco replied touching their own cups to hers.

XX

End of chapter

So there you have it, you've heard a little more about the blood's magic and Astoria has arrived. I know she's supposed to be at Hogwarts with Draco but she hasn't been. Daphne is going to be there but she and Astoria are going to be cousins in this version and not sisters.

I hope you enjoyed the update and if you'd like to review I'd love to hear what you think.

Love to you all


	10. Discussions, Agreements and Separation

Discussions, Agreements and Separation

The next couple of weeks flew by much like the first few had. Harry and Astoria warmed to each other quite quickly which pleased both themselves and Draco greatly. They spent their days studying together, the pair taking turns teaching Harry new skills while at the same time helping each other not to fall behind in their own studies. Harry perfected his defensive shield as well as learning how to create shields that would keep him from being seen or heard. They taught him to pull items to him, which was even more similar to accio than calling items in and was only used when the item was in sight range. Those were the last skills he would learn over the summer as they didn't want to overload him before they had to head back to school. He spent the rest of the summer revising those skills and getting back into the habit of using his wand for everything, not an easy feat as they first had to find Harry's wand. He was more than a little surprised when they did find it in the alley and still miraculously intact.

They spent a lot of time speaking psychically to each other over the final weeks as that wasn't a jewelled talent Harry would have to hide and Draco wanted him to be as adept at it as possible before they returned to school.

While Astoria spent most of the day with them she left them alone during breakfast and only chatted to them for a little while after dinner before retiring to her room and giving them time alone, which Harry was grateful to for. He looked forward to his nights alone in bed with Draco; they were something he was going to miss desperately when they went back to school.

They'd spoken about the night Astoria arrived and the lust they'd both felt building within them during that kiss. Both had admitted they weren't ready to take that step in their relationship yet and had agreed to continue on as they had been before it happened. They agreed to speak about it further when they did feel like they were ready. Harry was happy with that outcome, he didn't want to rush anything after what had happened to him at the start of summer, but he also hadn't wanted Draco to become impatient with him while he was working toward being ready.

When he'd mentioned this to the blonde Draco had given him the sweetest and most caring smile Harry had ever seen before kissing him softly and promising he would never become impatient with Harry or push him into anything. He'd cuddled Harry close and told him that as long as he could kiss him and cuddle him like this he'd be happy to wait as long as Harry needed. They had a long life to live there was no reason to rush anything.

Harry had kissed him softly and cuddled into his side, thanking him quietly for being so wonderful. He'd come dangerously close to telling the other boy he loved him, but had managed at the last second to stop himself, not sure if he should really be saying it yet.

Truth be told, he did love Draco. He wasn't sure when his feelings of caring had evolved into love, but that night, Harry had known for a fact that they had. He was in love with Draco; all he had to do now was decide when he should tell him.

A week before the holidays were to end and three days before Harry was to head to the Weasleys, as he's organised at the beginning of summer, so he could spend some time with the family before they had to go back to school, Harry and Draco were snuggled up together in bed, enjoying one of their last nights of togetherness. Over the holidays they'd mulled over what they were going to do about their relationship when they returned to school and at that moment they were both deep in thought about the subject. Should they tell their friends or keep it to themselves? Draco had to tell his parents which made Harry quite nervous, a feeling intensified by the fact that he now knew Snape was one of those parents and would undoubtedly be very upset by the news.

Gryffindor was going to lose so many points that year.

They both knew they couldn't continue on like they had been; acting like they hated each other was going to be a nightmare not to mention painful and they had no desire to hurt each other anymore. Still, they couldn't just come out and say they were together, the school would have a complete freak out and more than likely accuse Draco of brainwashing Harry since most of the school were under the impression that the Malfoy's were evil. Draco was also worried about the danger revealing their relationship might cause for Harry when the other Malfoy's found out. So they had to come up with a plan that would allow them to at least act like friends until school finished, but wouldn't draw any unnecessary attention to the pair.

"I think we should keep it to ourselves for now," Draco broke the silence. "I mean, we both know our friends are not going to take it well and both Weasley and Parkinson are prone to having big mouths when something bothers them."

"Yeah, that's true," Harry agreed with a sigh. "Well I agree with you on that part, any ideas about the rest?"

"Actually I did think of one," Draco replied. "What if, right at the start of the year, we call a truce? We make a big show of sitting down together and deciding that our fighting is stupid and childish and that we should put it all behind us and try to get along so we can focus on our last couple of years of school without having to worry about the other sabotaging us. We are in our sixth year now, we're growing up; it wouldn't be that crazy to say that we're just over all of the shit and want to put it behind us. Once we've done that we can go about our daily business without everyone expecting us to snark at each other. What do you think?" the Malfoy asked.

"I like it," Harry replied with a smile. "Do you think we should make a show of attempting to build up a friendship between us so when the world does finally work out that we're together it isn't such a frightening shock for everyone?" he asked.

Draco looked torn, "I don't know," he replied. "I mean, for that reason it would be a marvellous idea and it would mean we got to spend some time together without having to sneak around."

"But?" Harry prompted knowing there was more the Slytherin wanted to say.

"Father's relatives and the ministry," Draco replied, "You're already in enough danger on a daily basis because of the Death Eaters and the general crap that goes on in the castle, if the other Malfoy's found out we were friends…I just don't want to see you get hurt," he finished looking down at Harry with worried eyes. "The damn bastards really are everywhere."

Harry smiled and leant up to kiss the other boy. "I'll be fine," he reassured softly. "Like you said my life's already in danger on a regular basis, a little more can't hurt. Besides, I have my jewels now, if I'm in danger I can shield without anyone noticing and concentrate the rest of my energy on fighting back. I'll be fine, Draco, I'm more concerned about whether it would cause a problem for you or your family. Will the ministry give you a hard time over being friends with me?" Harry asked, the thought suddenly occurring to him.

Draco shook his head, "I don't think so. When they find out we're together I have no doubt they will, but I don't think a little friendship will hurt as long as we're not too chummy," he replied.

"Then it's settled, that's what we'll do," Harry stated decisively.

"All right then, just be careful all right," Draco warned.

"I will if you will," Harry bargained.

"Deal," Draco agreed with a chuckle.

For a moment they lay in silence; then Harry sighed. "I'm going to miss this," he said mournfully. "Why can't summer be longer? Sleeping is going to suck without you beside me."

"I actually had a thought about that too," Draco said softly and Harry perked up slightly.

"You did?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, what if you and I applied to be prefects this year?" Draco suggested with a grin. "We'd get our own rooms and no one would be around to check if we were in them."

"I like how you think, Malfoy," Harry complimented. "And being that you're Snape's favourite –something that makes a lot of sense now that I know your history- you'll definitely get it for Slytherin, meaning that even if I don't get it for Gryffindor I can still sneak out with my invisibility cloak or a sight shield and come visit you," Harry decided with a smirk.

"You'll have to be on the lookout for dad though," Draco warned, "He's blood too, he'll be able to see right through any sight shield you create because his jewel is darker than yours."

"Can he sense me through my invisibility cloak?" Harry asked curiously. "A couple of times I thought he could but other times I've managed to sneak right past him and he doesn't seem to have any idea I'm there."

"I don't know, I guess we'll find out," Draco replied.

They relapsed into silence for another few minutes and Harry pondered over whether he should confess his feelings for the Slytherin now, while they were having a nice evening together in their bed, or wait until another time. If the blonde wasn't ready to hear it their nice evening could end rather abruptly.

"What's wrong, Harry?" He heard Draco's soft voice in his mind.

Maybe it would be easier to tell him like this, or better still maybe he should just let Draco see. During his training with the jewels Draco had taught him about the mind and how it had barriers that helped protect it from being invaded. The top levels of the mind were where normal day to day thoughts lived, so someone breaching those barriers could be a little embarrassing but wasn't too concerning. In the deeper recesses of the mind were secret thoughts and feelings, things people kept close to their heart that they didn't want others to know. In the middle of the mind was its core and if that was invaded by another, stronger mind, it could have severely damaging consequences for the person whose mind was being attacked. The deeper into the mind someone went the more information they were privy to about another and the more painful it was for that person. This was a concept Harry was already familiar with from his occulmency lessons with Snape the previous year, so learning how to strengthen those shields around his mind was easier than he imagined it was for others.

If you wanted someone to have access to a thought or a feeling you could drop your barriers and allow them entrance to your mind. At that moment, Harry thought that perhaps it would be easier, and a little more intimate, to drop some of his mental barriers and allow Draco to see what he was feeling rather than telling him. He tilted his head up and studied the beautiful boy for a moment in consideration. Would Draco want to know yet?

"Harry are you okay?" Draco asked concerned.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, thinking that dropping his barriers would be taking the cowards way out, but the words caught in his throat, "Draco I…I um…I…" He trailed off with a sigh, shaking his head at himself. This was stupid; they'd only been together for eight weeks or so, it was too early to be telling the other boy this. "Nothing, it's fine, don't worry about it," he replied looking down and feeling more than a little cowardly, while at the same time kicking himself mentally for thinking this was a good idea to begin with.

A hand slipped under his chin and tilted his head up to look at the blonde ice prince. Draco's gorgeous, gunmetal eyes gazed adoringly into his for what felt like hours before the boy whispered, "I know what you want to say. I can feel what you're feeling, it's another psychic gift the blood have and I'll teach it to you one day. I already know what you feel, but I want you to say it. Only when you're ready, there's no rush and no pressure, but I want to hear you say it. I feel it too, I promise you, but I want you to take the lead on this, all right."

Harry was stunned silent and Draco gave him a soft smile before kissing his forehead gently and pulling Harry close, pressing his face into Harry's hair.

The silence returned and after a few minutes Harry plucked up his courage and whispered. "I love you, Draco."

"I love you too, Harry," the young Malfoy replied and Harry could hear the happiness in his voice.

Harry smiled and snuggled in closer to the Slytherin closing his eyes. "Goodnight, love," he whispered.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Draco replied and Harry drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

XX

Saying goodbye was very emotional for the two boys. Even though they knew they'd be seeing each other again soon, they also knew it wouldn't be the same, and that was a hard thought to wrap their minds around.

"It won't be long before we're back on the train and heading for Hogwarts," Draco said as he held Harry close and stroked his hair. "We'll see each other in no time but … it hurts to see you go all the same. I'm going to miss you, Harry."

"I'm going to miss you too," Harry replied, "It'll be so weird going to bed and waking up without you beside me, not being able to snuggle up to you at night, or just feel your presence close by. It'll be hard but we'll survive, right?" he asked sadly and Draco leaned forward to kiss him.

He pulled back after a few moments and lent his forehead against Harry's, "If you need me, for anything, you call for me. I don't care what time it is or how small the need, I will always answer, I promise," he whispered, kissing Harry on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too," Harry replied reaching back to slide his fingers into Draco's soft, platinum blonde hair, enjoying the feel of the long, silky locks sliding through his fingers. While he'd had a trim to tidy his hair and make it a little easier to manage Draco had kept his word to Harry and not cut it back to the length it had been before the holidays. He'd admitted to Harry that he actually liked it long and found it easier when brewing potions as he could tie it back and keep it out of his way.

Harry had considered cutting his own and had done so, but only to the length of his shoulder blades. He found it made him look a good deal like Sirius and he'd kept it that way as a tribute to his godfather.

He'd spoken about Sirius to Draco, but only so far as to tell him that the man was his godfather and that he was innocent of the crimes he'd been incarcerated for. He didn't mention that he knew where the other man was; as much as he'd come to trust the young Malfoy it wasn't his secret to tell and he knew there was bad blood between Sirius and the rest of the black family, which included Draco's mother. One day he'd find a way to prove the man's innocence to the world, until that day came he had to keep Sirius his secret, even if that meant keeping knowledge of him from the dragon queen herself. Harry owed it to his parents.

He snuggled in to Draco, savouring the feeling of being able to hold the other boy close. He knew it wouldn't be long before he'd be able to hold him like this again, but he also knew that the next time he did hold Draco they'd have to be on their guard in case someone spotted them. Eventually he pulled back; knowing Ron and the others would be waiting for him and not wanting them to worry.

"I'll see you soon," he promised the young Malfoy. "Good luck with your parents; let me know how it goes, all right. And remember, the same applies to you, contact me if you need to, I'll be here."

Draco smiled and kissed him once more. "I will," he promised, gazing lovingly into Harry's eyes.

"Okay, you two have had enough time to snuggle and be sickening, I want a cuddle now," Astoria broke into their moment and Harry pulled reluctantly away from the young Malfoy to give Astoria a hug.

"Goodbye, Astoria," he said softly. "I don't know when I'll get to see you again, but I hope it's soon. I'm really glad I got a chance to get to know you this summer."

"Yeah, me too," Astoria replied as they pulled back from the hug. "Don't be a stranger, all right. As soon as I know where I'll be going to school this year I'm going to owl you with the information. Promise you'll write to me," she demanded gently.

Harry smiled at the girl and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I will, I promise," he replied sincerely.

"I'll hold you to that," she warned playfully causing Harry to laugh.

"Really? I'll definitely write then," he replied jokingly causing Astoria to chuckle. "Take care of yourself, Astoria."

"You too, Harry," she replied with a soft smile.

They shared one last hug before Harry headed back to Draco and they shared a final kiss. "Goodbye, I'll see you soon," he whispered as they parted.

"See you soon," Draco agreed quietly and Harry pulled away heading for the fireplace. He grabbed some floo powder and called out for Daigon Alley where he was meeting the Weasleys.

XX

That night Harry sat up on the bed Molly had set up for him, in a spare room at the Weasley burrow, thinking about Draco. Ron was in the shower, giving Harry a small reprieve from the other boy's constant chattering about their family holiday to Romania. He'd spent every moment since Harry had met up with him at Daigon Alley telling Harry every detail about the trip, and as much as Harry loved hearing about it, he was desperate for a break.

Not that he minded Ron talking so much, in fact it was a very good thing because it kept the redhead busy and stopped him asking questions about what Harry did on his holidays. Mind you, Ron and the other Weasleys had learnt early on not to ask Harry about his holidays, there was nothing to tell, and even if there were it only reminded Harry of the Dursleys and how miserable summer was for him.

This summer however, aside from the horrible beginning, had been the best of his life and for once he would have killed to be able to talk about it. Of course he couldn't, they'd all freak out if they knew about him and Draco, but one day he hoped he'd be able to tell them all about it.

Draco, Harry missed him already. It was as if someone had taken a knife and carved out a part of his soul. He felt empty and sad and try as he might he couldn't push those feelings aside. Pulling his cloak tighter around him Harry lay down on the bed and closed his eyes allowing his mind to drift to long, silky, blonde hair and gorgeous gunmetal eyes. It was only a couple of days until he'd be able to see the other boy again; he had to hold it together until then.

He wasn't aware of Ginny's presence until the girl sat down on the bed. He all but jumped and rolled over to face her. "Hey," he greeted quietly.

"Hey," the young redhead returned his greeting. "You've been awfully quiet since we met up with you today in Daigon Alley, is everything okay?" she asked, concern shining in her lovely, blue eyes.

Harry smiled; trust Ginny to be the one who noticed. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied reassuringly. "You know my summers are never exactly wonderful," he explained. "Sometimes I get a little jealous of you guys, I mean you actually look forward to coming home, I…well I've never really felt like that."

It was the truth; he had honestly never looked forward to going back to the Dursley's at the end of the school year. He wasn't sure what would happen when Draco told his parents about the relationship between him and Harry, but if by some strange miracle they accepted it and allowed Harry to return to Malfoy manor at the end of this year…well, he didn't imagine he'd be feeling sad to leave Hogwarts anymore.

Ginny sighed, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Harry's upper arm. "I know and I'm sorry. I wish you could just come home with us for the holidays; it would be so much nicer I'm sure." She looked down, but not before Harry saw the sadness in her eyes. "Were they terribly mean to you this summer?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No more than usual," he reassured the young redhead reaching out to touch the hand that was still resting on his arm. "Don't be so sad, it's only a little longer before I'll never have to go back there again. Besides, I'm here now, let's try and be happy, hey," he coaxed gently.

"Yeah, yeah you're right," she agreed looking up and giving him a warm if slightly shaky smile. "It's good to see you. Are you looking forward to your birthday tomorrow? Mum and I are going to bake a cake and Fred and George want to decorate the house which you know will be interesting," the girl spoke animatedly, obviously trying to push aside her earlier unhappiness. "It would have been nice if Hermione could have been here too, but still, you're turning 16, you must be excited."

"Yeah, I am," Harry replied giving her the best smile he could muster. In all honestly he was looking forward to tomorrow, he just wished Draco could have been there to celebrate with him.

"All right, now, where was I up to?" Ron asked from the doorway a wet towel still draped around his shoulders. "Oh that's right, Charlie's house."

Harry sighed and Ginny gave him a sympathetic smile. It was going to be a long night.

XX

It had taken hours for Harry to fall asleep, even after several hours of listening to Ron go on and on about the trip to Romania. When at last the other boy had headed to bed Harry had lay in his own, his cloak wrapped tightly around him, staring out the window at the stars. He was torn between missing Draco and wondering if the ice prince had told his parents about them yet and what their reaction had been.

He was awoken early the following morning by a quiet, but persistent, tapping on the window. Slipping his glasses on he looked over to find a beautiful, dark grey eagle owl sitting on the window sill looking at him expectantly. Recognising it immediately as Shinrai, Draco's owl, Harry rushed to the window and threw it open to allow the bird entry. He hopped gracefully inside and held out his leg onto which was tied a small, blue parcel. Harry relieved the lovely owl of his burden and thanked him quietly before heading over to his bag to find one of Hedwig's treats to give to him.

Shinrai took the treat gently from Harry's hands and proceeded to peck at it daintily – he had perfect table manners, definitely Draco's owl -. Harry stroked his feathers gently and he leant into Harry's hand, enjoying every second of the affection he was receiving. Truth be told, Harry loved Draco's owl almost as much as he loved his own, and he was pretty sure Hedwig was quite taken with the dashing young eagle owl as well.

As if his thoughts had summoned her Harry's familiar appeared at the window and called out to Shinrai who rubbed his head against Harry's hand once more before hopping up onto the window sill to join the snow white owl. The pair exchanged a few hoots of greeting before disappearing from the window sill together and Harry had to smirk as he wondered how long it would be before Shinrai made it home.

He looked down at the parcel in his hands and was just about to open it when a knock sounded at the door. He vanished the parcel and lay back down in bed, feigning sleep. Mere moments later the door opened and almost the whole Weasley clan entered the room, still in their pyjamas, with a collection of brightly wrapped parcels in their hands.

Harry opened his eyes, pretending to be just waking up, and smiled at the group as they approached him with warm smiles on their faces.

"Happy birthday, Harry," they called in unison giving him a moment to sit up before placing his gifts on the bed in front of him.

Harry thanked them sincerely and accepted the hugs and kisses that followed. He might be missing Draco, but he was filled with the warm happiness that only came from being surrounded by family.

XX

The day was one big exciting blur for Harry and by the time he dragged himself into bed that night he'd almost forgotten about Draco's gift that he'd yet to find a chance to open. He'd been spoilt rotten all day and he had to admit he'd loved every moment of it. Molly had knitted him a new pair of winter mittens as well as a large, bright, multi-coloured blanket and imbued them with warming, stain resistant and anti-fading spells. Ron had given him sweets as was the boy's custom, the twins had given him a collection of their new products, Ginny had given him a book he'd been wanting and Arthur and Charlie had pitched in and bought him a subscription to Quiddich monthly. Molly and Ginny had cooked him breakfast as well as a huge dinner of roast lamb and true to her word Ginny had helped her mum bake the biggest chocolate cake Harry had ever seen.

He'd felt so special and loved and despite still wishing that Draco could be there with him, Harry had enjoyed the day a great deal. It was jumping in the shower that night that reminded Harry of Draco's present. He'd pulled the bottle of Draco's body wash out of his bag to take to the shower and the scent of it had jogged his memory about the gift. As soon as he was dry he headed back to his room, thankful that Ron had dropped off to sleep shortly beforehand, and shut the door behind him. He perched himself on the edge of the bed and called in the small, blue parcel. As soon as he moved to unwrap it the box doubled in size and weight. Curious Harry pulled off the paper to reveal a small, rectangular jewellery box.

He recognised the name on the front of the box as one of the very upper-class jewellers in Daigon Alley and knew, no matter what turned out to be in the box, that it would be expensive. He opened the box gently to reveal a gold necklace with a glowing crystal sphere attached to the end. It was absolutely breathtaking and Harry reached in to pull it from the box only to jerk his hand back when the sphere lit with multi-coloured light as soon as his fingers touched the chain. The glow stopped as quickly as it had started and puzzled by what it could mean, Harry searched around for any sign of a note that may have come with the gift to explain what it was.

Looking down at his lap he spotted a small piece of folded cardboard with his name printed clearly on the front in elegant, black letters. He flipped it open and read:

My gorgeous Harry,

Happy 16th birthday, sweetheart. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you today; you have no idea how much I wish I could. I'm sure the Weasleys will throw you a lovely party and surround you with love and caring. As much as I wish I was the one to be able to give that to you today, knowing you're with them makes me feel a little better. I hope you have a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you as soon as I can.

Happy birthday again, my love, I would give anything to be able to hold you, kiss you and tell you this in person, but as I am not able to right now I hope this letter and the gift I have sent you will remind you of me and make you smile until we're back together again.

Have a brilliant day, sweetheart,

All my love,

Your Emerald Dragon

xxxooo

Harry smiled at the signature at the bottom. He understood Draco not wanting to put his name on the note in case someone else found it and the title he'd chosen instead definitely suited him. The inside cover of the note explained what his gift was and how it worked and Harry found himself smiling all over again.

The necklace was a memory sphere. It was used to store memories, much like a pensieve, only rather than having to draw the memory out with your wand you needed only to hold the sphere up to your forehead and concentrate on the memory you wanted it to save. You did the same to view the memories it contained. It could only hold a certain number of memories but that was okay; it also had the ability to transfer those memories to a pensieve when it was running out of room. It was keyed to activate when it was touched by the person, or people, it was created for and the glow indicated that there was already a memory stored within it. The biggest difference between this and a pensieve was that it also held the feelings the carrier was experiencing when the memory took place meaning you could relive an emotion as well as a memory if you wished.

Vanishing the note he pulled the necklace from the box, watching as it came glowing to life once more, and slipped it over his head. The chain was quite long which made perfect sense as he would have to remove the necklace to use it were it any shorter. The inside glowed in a beautiful rainbow of colours and knowing that meant there were memories already stored within the sphere he did as the instructions directed and held the sphere to his forehead, closing his eyes.

Bright lights danced in front of his eyes for several seconds before forming into images and Harry watched in awe as several of Draco's memories from the last several weeks played out in front of him. He saw Draco finding him in the alley at the beginning of summer, felt the fury that flared through the young Malfoy at the sight and watched him curse the attackers and save Harry's life. He saw Draco race Harry back to the manor and felt the fear and exhaustion the Slytherin experienced while healing Harry's wounds. He watched their relationship unfold through Draco's eyes, felt all the emotions the blonde had experienced from anger, to pain to happiness and finally love. He watched as Draco read to Harry's sleeping form and several occasions where he would close his book and just watch Harry sleep. He felt the other boy's happiness when Harry turned out to be one of the Queen's chosen and his sadness at having to part with Harry before the holidays ended.

The memories were beautiful and by the time Harry had finished watching them, tears were streaming from his eyes. He'd felt everything Draco had felt during their time together and the other boy really did love him. It was the most amazing gift anyone had ever given him. He gave himself a minute to calm down and headed over to his bag, intending to find a quill and some parchment to write Draco a thank you note. Halfway through his search however, he changed his mind and instead headed over to stand at the window.

Draco had told him he'd be able to reach the Slytherin ice-prince psychically, even if there was a fair amount of distance between them. He'd never had to try from any real distance before, but right now he wanted to express his gratitude properly and that couldn't be done through a letter.

He concentrated as hard as he could; reaching out his senses in the direction he knew Malfoy Manor to be. It took him a little while but eventually he found it and even though it was a strain on his jewel he pushed ahead, searching for Draco's psychic energy.

He brushed up against several minds whose power was far deeper than his or Draco's and knew immediately that the Malfoy parents had returned home. He steered clear of those heading in the direction of Draco's energy which now felt like it was calling to him. Finally his mind found Draco's and he reached out to it, calling quietly to his love and hoping he wasn't asleep and would hear him.

It took barely more than a second for Draco to respond. "Harry, is something wrong?" he asked, his concern filling the link.

"No," Harry replied trying not to let the strain of using his jewel over such a significant distance show through the link. "I'm fine, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

He felt Draco relax and the next thing he knew the other boy's power had wrapped around his mind and Harry felt the burden of the long distance communication ease almost completely. He sighed mentally in relief and thanked the other boy.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Draco replied. "You wanted to talk?" he asked.

"Yeah, I um…I just got the chance to open my present," Harry explained. "I didn't get the chance this morning before the others came to wake me up and I … Draco I loved it, so much you have no idea. Thank you, thank you so much, I love you," he said allowing his love, happiness and gratitude to show through the mental link.

He felt Draco's love and happiness fill the link in return and the Slytherin replied, "You're more than welcome, believe me, and I love you too, so much." The blonde sighed. "Oh, Harry, I wish I could have been there with you today, I'm so sorry I couldn't be," he said and Harry felt the pain the ice prince experienced at their being separated.

"No, don't be sorry, we'll see each other again soon," Harry soothed, even though his feelings were just as turbulent as the Slytherin's.

"I miss you," Draco said softly.

"I miss you too," Harry replied.

For a few moments there was silence, then, Draco spoke again. "I have to go, my parents want me. I'll see you in a couple of days, yeah?" he asked, a mixture of sadness and hope in his voice.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon. Goodnight, Draco, I love you." Harry replied his feelings mirroring that of the Slytherin.

"Goodnight, Harry, I love you too," Draco replied and Harry pulled back, closing the link between them. When he returned to his body he found his face wet with further tears, but he smiled in spite of this and cradled his necklace close. Just a few more days and they'd see each other again.

He was about to head back to bed when an owl flew up and tapped on the window. It wasn't one he recognized and he opened the window cautiously. The small, brown owl hopped inside and presented it's foot, upon which a small parcel was tied. He relieved the owl of its burden and saw a letter attached to the top, with his name scrawled across the front in Sirius' very untidy script.

He gave the owl a treat and it rested only long enough to eat it before flying off into the night. Harry closed the window behind the bird and moved back to sit on the bed with the parcel from his godfather in his lap. He unshrunk the parcel and unwrapped it to find a large bundle of photos inside, all of them containing the marauders and Lilly when they were younger. Harry thought about reading the note first but was far too tired after his conversation with Draco to read anything right now. Instead he put the letter on the bedside table to read the following morning and settled down in bed to look at the photos.

XX

End of chapter.

So there you have it. Harry's back in the real world and the Malfoy parents have returned. The next chapter will see Harry and Draco returning to Hogwarts and the introduction of a new character or two.


	11. Returning to Hogwarts

Returning to Hogwarts

After several days that seemed to drag on forever it was time to return to Hogwarts. Molly, Arthur and the twins came to the station to see Harry, Ron and Ginny off and to see Hermione since they hadn't had the chance during the holidays. They arrived at the platform and Harry scanned the crowd for Hermione while reaching out with his jewel in search of Draco. He realised quite quickly that Draco hadn't arrived yet, so turned his attention to searching for Hermione.

He was bowled over by a mass of excited Gryffindor girl several seconds later and smiled happily as he hugged her back.

"Hello, Hermione," he greeted his friend as Ginny joined in their embrace and hugged Hermione with laughing enthusiasm.

"It's so good to see you," the brunette said when they parted, directing a bright smile to Harry before turning to hug Ginny properly. The glance had barely lasted a moment, but Harry hadn't missed the sadness and relief behind the girl's smile. Something had happened to her during the holidays and Harry was going to find out what it was.

Hermione moved between the Weasleys saying a quick hello to each before it came time to board the train. The teenagers bid goodbye to the Weasley family and jumped on to the train with barely a minute to spare.

In all the confusion Harry hadn't had another chance to search for Draco, so as soon as the group found an empty compartment and settled down for the trip Harry sent out his senses in search of the Slytherin. He felt the moment the other boy stepped on to the train and sent out his own senses in search of Harry. He felt Draco's pleasure as their minds brushed against one another and he allowed his own to pass through the link.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hello, lovely," Draco returned his greeting and Harry felt himself smile.

Do you think there's any chance you'll be able to meet me somewhere while we're on our way to school?" Harry asked.

"Just try and stop me," Draco replied. "I'll let you know when an opportune moment presents itself."

"Try and make it soon, okay, I've missed you," Harry asked.

"It'll be as soon as possible, love, I promise. Believe me, I've missed you too." Draco replied soothingly. "I have to go, see you soon." Draco finished before closing the link at his end.

Harry pulled back and smiled as the train started moving. He waved to the Weasleys as the train pulled away from the station and headed out through the city, smiling at the thought that he'd soon be in Draco's arms again.

XX

Their carriage was soon full with friends, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike. Luna had settled herself next to Harry with Hermione and Ginny on his other side. Ron was on the other side of the compartment with Lavender, Seamus and Neville. Cedric even popped his head in for a while, along with a couple of Huffelpuffs, before continuing on his way. Eventually though everything settled down, and the carriage, while filling up even further with other Gryffindors who were eager to catch up, quieted down as most settled in to listen to Ron regale them with stories of Romania.

Knowing it was going to be a long tale Harry managed to slip out on the pretence of needing to use the bathroom. He'd barely made it two steps into the hallway before Draco's mind touched his.

"I can see you," he said with a quiet chuckle. "I'm sight shielded, you won't be able to see me. Come down to the baggage carriage," he directed and Harry did so, smiling as he felt Draco's hand come to rest on his back. They reached the baggage carriage without being seen and as soon as the door was shut behind them Draco locked it and dropped the sight shield.

They were in each other's arms before either managed to utter so much as a syllable.

"I'm so glad to see you," Harry whispered burying his face in Draco's neck.

"I'm glad to see you too," Draco replied pressing his face into Harry's hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you more," Harry replied causing the Slytherin to chuckle slightly.

"Come over this way," Draco coaxed pulling back slightly and leading Harry over to sit on a trunk that was resting against the wall. They settled down and snuggled up together once more, Harry resting his head on Draco's shoulder while the Slytherin stroked his hair softly.

"How long can you stay?" Harry asked.

"A few minutes," Draco replied. "How about you?"

"As long as I like. If I take a while to get back I can just tell the others I was waylaid talking to someone," Harry replied.

Draco hummed in understanding before resting his cheek on Harry's head and pulling Harry closer.

They sat in silence for a little while each taking a moment to just enjoy the other's presence. Finally Harry broke the silence by asking, "Did you tell your parents about us?"

"Yeah, I did," Draco replied.

"How did they take it?" Harry asked hoping it hadn't gone badly.

"They took it really well actually," Draco replied sounding more than a little surprised. "I mean I knew they wouldn't react as badly as you thought they would but … I don't know, my father looked almost … relieved."

Harry pulled back from the blonde and studied him with a raised brow. "Seriously?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Draco replied. "I mean they were still a bit concerned, I'm sure you can understand that. Even after I told them you were one of the queen's chosen, which surprised them a ton by the way."

"I figured it would," Harry replied with a nod

"Still … I don't know. I expected at least a small explosion, from dad if nobody else, but they just … didn't. A lot of their concern went away after our conversation the other night though," Draco informed him.

"You mean when I called you on my birthday?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied, "Because their jewels are stronger than ours they picked up the link and kind of, listened in," Draco explained.

Harry blushed, feeling more embarrassed than he was pretty sure he ever had in his life. "Oh, Merlin," he groaned, burying his face in Draco's shoulder once more.

"Don't feel too bad, love, they may have heard what we were saying but they also felt what we were feeling; they already knew how much I loved you, but now they know that you love me just as much. It made them feel a lot better about the whole thing which is really good," Draco told him reassuringly.

"Doesn't make me feel any less stupid though," Harry replied.

Draco chuckled, "You might feel stupid but you look great," he said, prodding at Harry until he moved his face away from Draco's shoulder and looked up at the blonde once more. "Hi," Draco greeted him again when their gazes met once more.

"Hi," Harry replied softly feeling his blush deepen as Draco dipped his head slightly and kissed him.

Harry slipped arms around Draco's neck as he kissed back, moaning quietly when Draco's tongue slid along his bottom lip requesting entry which Harry immediately granted. As the kiss deepened Harry slid one of his hands back into Draco's hair, vanishing the ribbon that was holding it back so the cascade of blonde silk could fall around him. He slid his fingers into it, drawing a purr of pleasure from the Slytherin who responded by pulling Harry closer. The kiss lasted until both boys were breathless and they pulled back from it breathing heavily.

"We can't go that long without seeing each other again," Draco panted.

"I wholeheartedly agree," Harry replied, his fingers still absently stroking Draco's hair.

They shared another, gentler kiss, before a voice sprang into both of their heads.

"Are you two quite done? I'm getting thoroughly sick of being bombarded with all of these questions."

Recognising it as Astoria's, and noting how cranky she sounded, Harry pulled back and studied Draco with a raised eyebrow. "Is there maybe something you forgot to tell me?" he asked.

"Yeah, Astoria's parents have moved into the manor with us and they want her to go to Hogwarts with me from now on," Draco replied with a grin.

Harry smiled, "Really?" he asked excitedly. "So they're okay then?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Draco replied. "They took care of the aurors that were after them with mum's help and they came to the manor only a couple of hours after the rest of my parents got home. They were a bit sore and tired but fine otherwise. They're going to live in the manor with us for now."

"That's great," Harry replied relieved and happy at the same time. "I was hoping it wouldn't be long before I got to see Astoria again."

"She's excited to see you again too," Draco replied. "I had to threaten to turn her hair red to keep her from following me down here. I know you wanted to see each other again, but I wanted some time alone with you first," he explained.

"I'm not complaining," Harry replied with a soft smile for the other boy.

They were an inch away from sharing another kiss when Astoria's voice jumped into their heads once more.

"Guys, the other Slytherins have started to notice that Draco's been gone a while. That damned Parkinson has her eyes on everyone, doesn't she?"

"She does at that. Don't worry I'm heading back now," Draco reassured the girl before turning his attention back to Harry. "I have to go. Can you meet me tonight, in the astronomy tower?" he asked.

"I'll be there," Harry promised leaning up to kiss him once more.

Draco gave him a loving smile as they parted. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," Harry replied standing up and moving with the other boy toward the door.

"I'll go out first, give me a minute before you follow all right," Draco directed.

"I will," Harry agreed.

Draco gave him another smile before turning his senses outside to check if anyone was near the carriage. He was about to open the door when he seemed to remember something and turned back to face Harry with a grin. "Oh, I almost forgot, Astoria's not the only surprise in store when we arrive at Hogwarts," he said conspiratorially.

Harry looked at him curiously but Draco just grinned and slipped out the door. Harry could only shake his head at his boyfriend's theatrics and headed out of the carriage as soon as the coast was clear.

XX

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table between Ron and Hermione listening to everyone's tales about the summer and the activities his friends had partaken in.

"Romania was amazing, Harry, you should have come," Ron once more reminded him. "We got to see all the Dragons and Charlie even let us see where the baby dragons stay while the mothers are away. We has such an awesome time, you should have been there."

Harry nodded. "I'm glad you had fun, Ron," he replied with a smile before looking over in the direction of the Slytherin ice prince.

Draco was sitting between Astoria and Blaise with a large group of girls on the other side of Astoria seemingly doing their best to learn everything about Draco's oldest childhood friend. Harry smiled over at the young brunette and sent a message through his summer sky jewel, "Are they grilling you for information over there?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Astoria replied turning to look in his direction and rolling her eyes. "Oh my god, Astoria, what was Draco like when he was really little? Was he cute? Do you think I should ask him out, Astoria? Has he mentioned me, Astoria? Are you Draco's girlfriend, Astoria? Does he have a girlfriend, Astoria?" he heard Astoria's voice mimicking the other girls' questions in her head in a high pitched, whiney voice and Harry nearly burst out laughing.

Just then Hermione grasped Harry's arm drawing his attention away from the Slytherin and on to his brunette friend.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly and Hermione just pointed up to the teacher's table, her eyes wide with shock. Harry's gaze moved to where she was pointing and he nearly fell out of his chair in shock. Professor Snape had entered the room from behind the head table and was gliding toward his chair. This was nothing major of course, what had drawn the attention of the Brunette, and apparently the rest of the school as the room had suddenly fallen silent, was the young, extremely beautiful woman whose arm was currently linked through the Potion Master's.

She had long, chestnut brown hair that was currently free flowing and fell to her waist, beautiful, lavender eyes and lovely, sun kissed skin. She was a head shorter than Severus, with a fine build and was dressed in lovely, midnight blue robes with long flowing sleeves.

Even if Draco hadn't warned him that a surprise was in store for him when he reached Hogwarts he would have recognised Arianna Le'Stat in a heartbeat. She looked exactly like she did in the pictures Draco had shown him during the holidays. Pictures which, he might add, did not do her justice at all.

The students watched as their potions professor pulled out a chair for the lovely, young woman before sitting down in the vacant seat beside her. She smiled over at him as he joined her and the emotions held within the depths of that smile were almost overwhelming. She loved him, the kind of romantic, forever love people usually only found in books. Severus took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips, kissing it softly and the tenderness in that gesture showed just how deeply the potions master returned those feelings.

The moment of silence was broken by the arrival of Hagrid and the first years, although Harry noted that while both professors turned their attention to the giant and his followers their hands remained joined and resting on the table in front of them.

"Who do you think she is?" Ron asked turning to face Harry with a look of shock.

Harry knew exactly who she was but of course he couldn't tell them. He simply shrugged before turning his attention to Draco.

"Well you were right, that was definitely a surprise. When did you find out?" he sent on a summer sky spear thread.

"Two nights ago, when she came home. Apparently my parents have known most of the summer but they wanted to keep it as a surprise for me just before I came back to school. Plus, she really wanted to tell me herself," Draco replied turning his attention to Harry.

"She's even more beautiful in person than she was in the photos," Harry noted.

"She is isn't she," Draco replied with a smile.

They turned their attention back to the front of the room as the sorting ceremony began. Once it was over Dumbledore stood up to address the school. "Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. Firstly and as always the Forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students at all times as is the third flood corridor. Secondly we are welcoming two new teachers this year. Firstly I'd like to introduce you all to Miss Delores Umbridge who the ministry has asked to take over the post as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," he announced and a woman, that none of the students had noticed as they were all looking at the lady who'd entered with Snape, in a ridiculous, pink dress and a stupid matching hat, stood up from the head table and spoke in what Harry would only describe as the most annoying voice he'd ever heard. Harry was pretty sure the entire student body inwardly sighed in relief when she returned to her seat and Albus started to speak again.

"Now I'd like to welcome our new history and language teacher, Mrs Arianna Snape and before you all start gossiping and theorising I will answer the question that is likely on all of your minds, yes, she is Professor Snape's wife."

There was a general gasp of surprise from the student body and Harry saw Severus smirk slightly.

"Now, to avoid confusion you will address Mrs Snape as Professor Le'Stat and not Professor Snape and while I am sure you will discuss this amongst yourselves I would remind you that gossip has never helped anybody and it won't be tolerated in your classes. That is all, please enjoy the feast." He finished as the food appeared on the table.

"So the big, black, greasy, Slytherin bat has a wife. How the hell did that happen?" Ron asked astounded looking around at the rest of the Gryffindors in shock.

"And look at her," Pervati commented. "I mean she is gorgeous, how in the hell did he win her over?"

"Maybe he's drugged her with one of his potions or something," Seamus theorised

"Didn't Dumbledore just say something about gossiping?" Hermione asked interrupting all the theorising.

"Oh come on, Hermione, you must be curious," Ron all but whined.

"It's none of our Business, Ron, just eat your dinner before it gets cold," Hermione replied burying her face in a book.

Ron sighed and turned his attention to his food.

Harry grinned and started piling food on his own plate. It was hard knowing things that he couldn't tell anyone else, but at the same time it was kind of amusing.

"So, Harry, what did you do on your holidays?" Hermione asked.

Damn, he'd been hoping to avoid that question.

XXX

That night after Harry was sure the rest of the Gryffindors were asleep he grabbed his invisibility cloak and sneaked out of the room. He knew now that he could just as easily use a sight shield, but he didn't want to risk anyone seeing him. Snape would have no problem with a sight shield. He reached the astronomy tower and headed up casting out his senses for Draco. He found the other boy almost immediately and headed up the stairs.

As soon as Draco came into sight Harry took a quick sweep of the room with his eyes before searching it with his senses. As soon as he was as sure as he could be that there was no one else present he moved swiftly to his love's side slipping the cloak off and hanging it over the closest railing.

"Hey," he greeted Draco softly.

"Hey," Draco replied just as softly, a warm, loving smile covering his face as he pulled Harry into his arms and kissed him.

Harry leant into the other boy, wrapping his arms around Draco's neck and returning the kiss. After a few moments Draco ended the kiss and pulled Harry into a comforting hug, burying his face in Harry's hair.

"I've missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too," Harry replied tightening his grip on the Slytherin. They held each other in silence for several minutes, each just enjoying the feeling of having the other close. Finally the silence was broken by the ice prince.

"I noticed you scanned the room before you took your cloak off. You obviously remembered my warnings," the blonde noted.

"Well you were very thorough in teaching me that particular talent. If I hadn't remembered it I imagine you would have been quite annoyed with me, I wouldn't want that" Harry replied.

"And yet the same doesn't work for me."

Harry froze at the sound of the potion master's voice. He was expecting the other man to drag him away from Draco and deduct a million house points from him for being out after curfew. He was incredibly surprised when Draco laughed.

"No, dad, but then again he's not dating you," the Slytherin prince replied jovially.

"Well no, that would be quite inappropriate," Severus replied and Harry pulled back from Draco to see the potions master approaching from the stair well. "While Draco was right in teaching you to scan a room before entering it you must never forget the importance of remaining vigilant. There may not have been an enemy present when you entered but one could easily be approaching while you are occupied with other tasks. You must keep constant watch on your surroundings if you wish to remain safe," Severus finished with a serious look in Harry's direction.

The pair studied each other for a moment before Severus spoke, "It seems our destinies are to be intertwined Mr. Potter. Perhaps starting afresh would be a beneficial idea," the potions master suggested holding his hand out.

It took everything in Harry not to gape at the other man in shock. He could feel Draco's eyes on him wondering what he would do with the offer and through his summer sky jewel he could feel Draco's hopefulness that he would accept and he and Severus might start to get along. Harry knew his answer regardless of this however and he reached forward to take the head Slytherin's hand. He felt Draco relax and smiled despite the surprise of the situation.

"Severus Malfoy," the potions master introduced himself as if they'd just met.

"Harry Potter," he replied.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Potter. You may call me Severus when we are out of class and not within hearing range of other students." the older man surprised Harry further, but he recovered quickly and replied.

"Lovely to meet you too, Severus, and Harry will do me just fine in the same circumstances."

Severus nodded and pulled his hand away. "Very well," he agreed just as the sound of footsteps on the stairs alerted the group to the arrival of another visitor, or two as Harry noted when Astoria and Arianna entered the room.

"Harry," Astoria greeted him with a smile and ran over to hug him tightly. "It's so lovely to see you again."

"Hi, Astoria, it's good to see you too," he replied hugging her back.

She pulled away and moved to Draco's other side as Arianna approached. She looked him over with friendly eyes and smiled. "So, you're the infamous Harry Potter, I have to admit I nearly fell over when our son informed us that he'd chosen you to be his betrothed. Still, I hear that you are a lovely and polite young man who cares for my son a great deal and that is all I really need to know about you," she finished moving forward to wrap her arms around him in a gentle hug.

The energy around her was warm and calming and despite his surprise at the situation he hugged her back. It was quite a lovely experience, like hugging Molly, she felt so … motherly. She pulled back and smiled at him again.

"It's lovely to meet you, Harry Potter. I am Arianna Le'Stat but I will be more than happy for you to call me Arianna or just Ari out of classes," she introduced herself pleasantly.

"It's great to meet you too," Harry replied returning her smile.

She gave Draco a hug and a kiss before turning her attention to Severus and smiling up at the tall man lovingly.

"We certainly shocked the student body this evening," she said with a grin as Draco moved back to Harry's side and slipped an arm around him, pulling him close and kissing his hair.

"Indeed we did, Lucius and Cissa would have laughed themselves silly if they'd seen the students' faces when Albus explained who you were," Severus replied with a smirk.

Arianna giggled and leant up to kiss the man softly. When she pulled back she leant into his side and turned her attention back to Harry and Draco.

"So Draco tells us you're planning on calling a truce of sorts so you don't have to pretend to hate each other?" Arianna asked curiously.

"Yeah, we thought it would be the easiest way to ease the rest of the student body into the idea of us being friends and we didn't think we could keep being mean to each other now that there's no animosity between us anymore," Harry replied.

"Well it's as good a place to start as any, we will help you any way we can," Arianna replied.

"And you mentioned you're both applying to be prefects this year," Severus asked directing his question to both boys.

"Yes, we thought it would make it easier to see each other if we had our own space," Draco replied. "We've been together pretty much every minute since the start of Summer and you've already seen how hard it was for us to be separated for the few days Harry was with the Weasleys, I can't imagine how hard a whole year like that would be. It would also mean I'd be able to spend some time helping Harry with the things about him that the jewels are going to change, you know it can be a difficult transition," he explained.

"All very valid points," Severus replied. "We will, of course, support your applications as we understand the importance of having someone to talk to when you are new to the queen's circle. However, this support comes with the understanding that you will behave responsibly while you are in those rooms," Severus warned. "We do not care where you sleep, if you wish to spend your nights together that is between the two of you. I will caution you however, that Albus sees a lot more than people realise so you must be careful if you do not wish to reveal what is going on between you."

"We will, dad," Draco replied and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Very well. We will also be available to assist you with any jewel related problems you may encounter this year, Harry," Severus added. "We have experienced all of them at one time or another, do not hesitate to contact us should the need arise."

"Thank you, Sir … um … Severus," Harry corrected himself surprised by the man's offer and finding the name weird to say after so long of calling the man Sir or Snape.

Severus nodded and turned to Arianna. "We'd best take our leave, you'll want an early night before dealing with hair-brained children tomorrow," he advised.

Arianna shook her head at him with a smile. "You're so complimentary aren't you, darling."

"I am merely stating the truth," Severus replied.

"Our Draco is not hair-brained and neither is Astoria," Arianna argued. "I haven't taught Harry yet but he doesn't appear to be either," she added with a smile in Harry's direction.

Severus scoffed. "Be thankful you're not trying to teach him to brew a potion," he replied, although it lacked the bite Severus' voice usually held when the potions master was teasing him and sounded more like a joke.

"Hey, I actually managed that during the summer," Harry defended himself with a grin, deciding that if Severus could joke about their past interactions he could manage the same.

Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "So Draco tells us, although I am, as yet, unconvinced," he challenged with a smirk and Harry grinned back.

"Well, my hair hasn't melted off or turned green yet, that's got to be a good sign, right?" he asked causing Severus' grin to widen and the others to start laughing quietly.

"Good evening, Harry, Astoria," Severus bid them goodnight without commenting on Harry's reply and moved over to hug Draco. "Goodnight, I love you," he said softly brushing Draco's hair back and kissing it gently.

Harry smiled as he watched the interaction. He'd never thought of Severus as a warm man, but watching him with Draco, seeing how much he loved the boy; it showed a whole different side of his character and made Harry look at him in a completely different light. The moment between them was lovely and Harry felt privileged to realise he was one of very few people who would ever witness it.

Severus pulled back and gave his son a soft smile, which floored Harry, before turning and heading back toward the stairs. "You have 20 minutes to finish this and head back to your dorms before I deduct house points, and I will know, believe me," he warned, his normal, professor personality reasserting itself as he began his descent.

"Goodnight, dad," Draco replied with a smile at the man's retreating figure.

"Goodnight, Severus," Harry and Astoria called in tandem.

Arianna chuckled and gave Harry and Astoria a gentle hug before turning to hug and kiss Draco, holding him tighter and longer than was probably expected for a goodnight hug. "Goodnight, my darling, I love you" she said lovingly, smiling at her son.

"Goodnight, mum, I love you too," Draco replied holding her back, seemingly just as tightly

Harry understood that action perfectly; the woman had been away and in very real danger the entire summer, if he were Draco he'd be taking every chance he got to hug her like that too.

She pulled back and caressed the blonde's pale, angelic face with a smile before pulling away and heading for the stairs.

"Sleep well, young ones," she bid as she followed after her husband.

"Goodnight, Arianna," Harry and Astoria once more called out at the same time before turning to grin at each other.

As soon as the adults had departed Astoria hugged Harry and Draco tightly and gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm really glad we're all going to be together this year," she said with a warm smile before bidding them goodnight and heading to bed.

Alone at last Harry smiled at Draco and reached up to trace the blonde's angelic face with his hand. "You're so lovely, do you know that?" he asked softly.

Draco smiled at the compliment and pulled Harry into a soft kiss. "So are you," he replied when they parted and Harry snuggled contentedly into his arms.

"How long is it before they decide on the prefects for this year?" he asked after allowing himself a few minutes to just enjoy being with Draco.

"A fortnight," Draco replied

Harry sighed, "So a fortnight of sleeping without you. That'll suck but I guess I'll survive," he replied resignedly.

Draco chuckled. "Yes it will, but once it's done we'll be together every night, I promise," he reassured Harry, kissing his hair.

Harry smiled, liking the way Draco's promise sounded like he wasn't just talking about this year, but the rest of their lives as well. Thinking about their lives together reminded Harry of his interactions with Arianna and Severus that night and how surprising they'd been.

"Your dad was nicer than I expected," Harry told the Slytherin.

"Yes he was, he even surprised me honestly," Draco admitted. "I mean he's nice at home and he's always nice to me but … I don't know. I mean they did accept our relationship and took the news exceptionally well when I told them. They promised to be nice to you and dad particularly promised he'd try and quell some of the animosity between the two of you but … even I hadn't expected such a drastic change of character when you were around. I nearly fell over when he kissed me before and told me he loved me. He does it at home of course, but never around other people for reasons you're well aware of. Something's going on," The blonde said suspiciously. "They all know something I don't and I need to find out what it is. If it means they'll be nice to you that's great, but I still want to know what it is."

"It definitely is a bit weird," Harry agreed. He was exceptionally curious and he was sure Draco was even more so considering they were his parents. Wanting to change the subject and take his love's mind off the thought Harry said, "Your mum's lovely and she seems really nice."

"She is," Draco replied happily. "She was really excited about meeting you when she found out we were together."

"History of magic is going to be a lot more fun with her teaching us," Harry commented thinking back to how boring the lessons had been in previous years.

"Oh yes and thank the darkness for that. I couldn't have survived another year of those lessons without falling asleep in class," Draco replied relieved.

Harry laughed, "I know what you mean," he agreed.

They were silent for another few moments before Draco broke it with a sigh. "We have to go, it's been almost 20 minutes," he informed Harry with a disappointed edge to his voice.

"Yeah, you're right," Harry agreed, his feelings mirroring Draco's.

They pulled back from the hug they were still tangled in and brought their lips together in a searing kiss that left them both breathless.

"Only two weeks," Draco reminded Harry breathlessly.

"Two weeks," Harry agreed and they exchanged one last soft kiss before pulling apart completely. Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and threw it over his arm but chose to use a sight shield rather than putting it on so Draco could still see him. Draco took his hand and Harry extended the shield not wanting to lose sight of Draco behind the blonde's stronger shield as they headed down the stairs. They walked hand in hand through the castle until they reached the corridor where they had to part and Draco pulled Harry into one last kiss.

"Good night, I love you," he whispered as they parted.

"I love you too, goodnight, sweet dreams" Harry replied.

"You too," Draco replied and gave Harry's hand a gentle squeeze before disappearing from sight behind his own sight-shield.

Harry sighed and headed toward the Gryffindor dormitory, hoping to get some sleep tonight.

XX

End of chapter.

There we go what did we think? I hope you find time to review :)


End file.
